Hanssen's PA Now Surgeon
by 14LuvMusic
Summary: Now fully qualified in general surgery, Tabby is back at Holby, relationship with the boss still burning, and her friendships with the new faces in the hospital still kindling, she now has to prove her worth in the operating theatre. But how many times must she fall before her wings can carry her to surgical success? And what adventures will keep her on her toes?
1. Chapter 1 - Introductions

I find myself apologising a lot on this site, lol, the delay was caused by writer's block, I have plenty of ideas for this series but none on how to start it, I always find the first chapter of any story difficult. I hope you guys enjoy, please feel free to comment and criticise and also if you have any ideas I'd love to hear them and I'll see what I can do. :D

* * *

" _Oh, yes, Henrik!"_

She gazed longingly at the red light as she shifted in her seat.

 _Her hips bucked upwards to meet his thrusts.  
"Ngh, ngh, ngh…"  
"Yes, Henrik, harder!"_

She crossed her legs uncomfortably, giving a small sigh.  
Henrik's eyes glided from the road ahead to the hem of her pencil skirt, he couldn't help but smirk to himself as he watched her wiggle slightly from side to side.

" _Oooh, Tabitha." He hung his head back as he rolled his hips into her._

The lights switched to amber, then green, and as Henrik pulled away Tabby leaned her head back and stared out of the window for the rest of the journey.

 _Thrusting into her from behind he leaned forward and began to suckle and nibble at the back of her neck.  
"Oh, Henrik, that feels so good."_

Pulling into his parking space he gave another glance to Tabby's smooth legs as he switched off the engine, "Ready?"  
She took a deep breath, "I think so."  
"Take it slowly, there's no expectation of you to perform any surgeries for a while so don't panic. Start with something simple and work your way up, I'll keep you on ward rounds for today, how does that sound?" He smiled.  
"That sounds less scary." She giggled nervously.  
He rubbed her shoulder, "Don't panic." He gave her a wink and got out of the car.  
Tabby took another deep breath and went to join him to get her bag from the boot.

As they strode towards the main entrance, Tabby felt beside her for her lover's hand, and much to her surprise, as she held it, he made no attempt to hide it or push her away. That made her feel content, to know that now he had no real intention of hiding their relationship from their colleagues anymore, she felt almost excited to show him off to everybody.  
Her open coat flowed in the slight wind, her short locks ruffled, her smile gently pulling at her lips, she walked with an air of new found confidence and satisfaction; she was determined to start afresh with her new qualification, and build on her new ideas and abilities.  
But as they entered the main foyer she suddenly felt the gigantic shadow of the hospital bear down over her; with new abilities come new responsibilities, her new status of 'surgeon' held more life and death pressure, and she is also now the new kid on the block, almost the runt among the medical athletes. She made a bee line for the coffee shop, Henrik being dragged behind, confused.

"Double espresso please Laura." Tabby sighed as she finally let go of Henrik's hand to take out her purse.  
"Do you think it's wise to rack up the caffeine levels so violently?" Henrik held up an eyebrow.  
"What are you having?" Tabby hardly glanced to him as she sifted through the coin in her purse.  
Henrik gave up, "Cappuccino please." He sighed.  
As the coffees were handed to her and she paid up they both made their way to the lift.  
They stood beside each other, silently sipping their coffee as they waited for the doors to shut. That's when the infamous red head entered the pod.  
"Paper Girl! I hear you're now fully qualified to wield a scalpel as well as a pen." She smirked.  
 _*Doors closing, lift going up*_  
Tabby turned to the wall and bashed her fist against it, "Somebody let me out, please let me out!" She cried in jest.  
Henrik stayed silent as he was mildly amused by Tabby's antics.  
"You're mad." The cardio surgeon shook her head, a playful twinkle in her eye, "In all seriousness though, Tabs, it's a pleasure to welcome you to the surgical team."  
 _*Doors opening, lift going up*_  
She turned her head back to Tabby, "Can't wait to see you on the ice." She glanced to Henrik then gave a wink to Tabby before stepping out.

Tabby knocked back her espresso, "Ok, I'm now officially bricking it." She blew out trying to calm her breaths.  
"Don't let her rattle you, she's all hiss and no scratch." He smiled to himself thinking about his description.  
"Are we talking about snakes or cats? Because the last I checked Pythons don't have claws." Tabby lead the way out of the lift, giggling slightly.  
"That's true." He agreed.  
Making their way past Hanssen's office Tabby went to carry on to her own office before Henrik paused her.  
"By the way, Tabby…"  
Tabitha turned back to him and waited for the rest of his comment.  
"Last night was beautiful."  
"It was wonderful yes, but next time, go easy with the teeth." She stroked her hand over her shoulder.  
He gave her a cheeky apologetic smirk then went back to unlocking his door and disappearing into his lair.

She wandered through the double doors of the quieter ward, taking in the surroundings, making a note of the faces she caught glimpses of. She then turned and headed out.  
Pressing the button the buzz signalled the door was unlocked; pushing it open gingerly the loud hustle and bustle of the emergency ward filled her senses; the people, the noise, the activity, the smells. But again, taking note of the faces she turned and left.  
She headed back upstairs and wandered quietly onto the last ward she had on her list. She didn't need to go far down the corridor to see all that she needed to before, yet again, turning and leaving.

"What happened?" She almost begged for the answer.  
"Nothing." He seemed surprised at her upset.  
"But I hardly recognise anyone." She bit her lip.  
"Tabitha, people come and people go, each for their own reasons." Henrik tried to explain as he carried on signing off forms.  
"I was gone, for what, six months?" She carried on.  
Henrik paused his writing as her rant began to distract him.  
"Where's Nurse Maconie? Or Dr Wilde? Or Mr Spence? Or Dr Tressler? Or-"  
"They've gone."  
"-Professor Hope?" Tabby ended solemnly as his words hit her ears.  
Henrik gently placed down his pen, "I know you had made friends and now some of them have disappeared. You don't realise that plenty of them had left and come back."  
"Like who?" She looked up from her lap.  
"Ric Griffin, Oliver Valentine, Jac Naylor. And there were many who came and went who you never met."  
"It's changed though." She argued, her upset pulling at Henrik.  
His features softened, "I know you don't like change much but you need to embrace it. Go out, introduce yourself to everyone, and make new friends." Henrik reached over and took her hand, "Let's make a new start and let's make it good." He grinned, which gave Tabby all the encouragement she needed.

She took a reassuring breath and opened the double doors, striding onto Keller ward with a soft air of confidence. Sacha immediately recognised her and headed straight in her direction. No words needed to be said as he opened his arms and pulled her into a hug, lifting her from her feet.  
"It's so good to see you again." Tabby giggled as her feet touched the floor again.  
"It's brilliant. Glad to be back?" He beamed.  
"Of course."  
"Is this who I think it is?" Another voice joined them.  
"It is, Essie, meet Dr Rees." Sacha introduced the two, "Tabby, this is Essie, my fiancé."  
"Wow, he moves fast, pleasure to meet you." She shook the transplant coordinator's hand.  
Essie gave Tabby a smile but gave the tall doctor a dangerous glare.

She re-entered the scarily loud and busy AAU and was greeted by a flustered looking Serena whizzing from her office.  
"Tabitha, it's so nice to see you again, how did it go?" She seemed pleased to see the young doctor again as she walked and talked.  
"It went really well, yes, I can now perform proper surgical procedures now." She grinned proudly.  
"Hooray, a full-fledged member of the Holby team, we shall be putting your new found skills to good use then. So what brings you down to the ward of chaos?" Serena shuffled through some files on the nurses station.  
"I came to meet some of the new faces." Tabby glanced around the ward and swiftly picked through the faces she recognised and the ones she didn't.  
"Excellent, let me introduce you then. This is Nurse Fletcher." Serena pointed to the rugged looking nurse sat behind the desk clicking through on the computer.  
"Call me Fletch." He reached his hand over.  
"Tabitha Rees, but Tabby's fine. You used to work down in the ED right?" She asked shaking his hand.  
"Yeah, that's right, thought I'd move up here for some peace and quiet." He gave a pointed shrug referring to the ward, "What can you do?"  
Tabby giggled.  
"Raf Di Lucca, it's a pleasure to meet you. We've heard a lot about you." He shook her hand before picking up a clipboard and getting back on with his duties.  
Tabby suddenly looked sheepish as she wondered what had been said.  
"To go from a PA to a surgeon is amazing."  
Tabby turned to the gushing voice behind her, "Thanks?" Her head still racked with confusion and worry as to how much people had heard.  
"Morven Shreve." She beamed as she held out her hand.  
Tabby stared at the hand for moment, still in a slight daze, then softly shook it. Morven gave an awkward smile before turning and leaving for her duties again.  
"I think they all like you." Serena brought her attention back, "And over there is Nurse Martinez. Very busy girl, efficient I'd say." She pointed over to where Cara was hooking up a patient's drip.

Tabby decided to tread carefully as she wandered onto Darwin, when suddenly, one of the doctor's heads shot up from the computer screen.  
"She's back." Zosia smiled.  
Oliver spun his chair around and, on seeing the face of the new surgeon, shot up to his feet, "Tabitha. How'd it go?"  
"I could ask the same question, you guys are storming this place apparently. I also need to make an apology. Dr March I was rude and abrupt with you when I first met you-"  
"No need to apologise, I understand, F1's are bugging and you were thrown in the deep end."  
Tabby relaxed, "Thank you, I'm glad you understand. I'm just here to meet the newbies anyway."  
"Well he's too busy polishing his ego."  
They all turned to the red-head who slapped down her papers and sat at Ollie's seat.  
"Who's _he_?" Tabby asked intrigued.  
"My dad." Zosia held her head slightly as she realised the reputation her father had, and did sometimes want to disown him occasionally.  
"Mr Self, neuro surgeon." Oliver explained.  
"Oh dear." Tabby grimaced realising it wasn't just Orthopods who were twats, "He's made quite an impression already I see."  
"Oh yes." Jac agreed still clicking away on the computer.

"Ok, I take it all back, they seem like a really good team." Tabby surrendered.  
"Good." Henrik smiled pleased.  
"I'll be honest though…" She caught Henrik's attention, "…I cannot wait to meet the infamous Guy Self."  
Henrik's smile vanished in an instant, "Oh yes?" His voice laden with contempt.  
"What's he all about?" Tabby prodded, almost amused at the disdain she sensed from him.  
"He's about greed, power, and himself." He listed sharply, turning to his laptop.  
"Like every other neuro surgeon then." She rolled her eyes, smirking with nonchalance.  
"You will not go anywhere near him, understand?" His warning was quick, almost panicked.  
As she stared at him in a puzzled shock, his eyes turned from the screen to meet with hers; a deadly serious glare meeting one of minute fear.  
"Not alone." He whispered, shaking his head slightly.  
She swallowed, taking in his words as memories were stirred in her head. That's when an abrupt knock at the door caused her to jump.  
"Come." Hanssen called, his stoic demeanour back in business.  
"Mr Hanssen. I believe I have someone to meet."


	2. Chapter 2

I'm glad you all waited for me to return, and I'm glad you're all looking forward to this, I have so many ideas, and yes Tabby and Henrik always seem to argue about something, I think now that they're in a more stable relationship argument sexy should fit in, it's down in my ideas list, so keep a look out for it!

This chapter is full of medical dialogue which I hope doesn't get too boring for people, I enjoy researching this kind of stuff **(Disclaimer: I ain't a doctor, nor have any medical training)** and I feel it loses it's setting in a hospital if it doesn't include it. I hope it might even be interesting to some people.  
Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

His grin was almost sickeningly fake, his silver hair combed neatly and his posture gave off a stench of boastful self-importance; Tabby instantly knew what this man was about.  
She shuddered lightly as the man shut the door and strolled over to where she was sat. She glanced to Henrik who was now fervently typing at his laptop, almost in prayer that the man who just walked into his office was not the gasconading neuro surgeon they had just been talking about. Unfortunately, his glance proved his nightmare, and as he hit the last key he spun his chair round to face the two visitors of his office.  
"Mr Self, to what do we owe the pleasure?" His voice was full of obvious distaste for the man.  
"I just wanted to congratulate the lovely Dr Rees here on her recent qualification, and to welcome her to the Holby surgical team." He explained, his hand resting on the back of the chair Tabby was sat on.  
Henrik gave a nod but watched closely as Guy greeted the young doctor.  
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Tabitha." He held out his hand to her.  
She gave a lightning fast survey over the body language of his hand shake. To start he was reaching down from above her, that automatically placed him in a position of higher power. Standing on the right hand side of her and reaching across his body for the shake was yet another tally on the power list. Her eyes then glided down his muscular arm to his hand where she noticed it was twisted with his palm facing towards the floor, a less coincidental pointer to his want for power and status.  
She got to her feet, squared up to him, and reached her hand out to his.  
Henrik noticed something was off about the gesture, it wasn't as smooth as her usual handshakes; taking hold of it from underneath, she made a point of twisting their hands to a more vertical position before starting the shake.

"The pleasure's all mine." She grinned, but Henrik noticed there was something off about that as well.  
Guy gave a small chuckle, almost awkward in nature, before taking a breath, "Right, now that introductions are out of the way I'd best get back to my project, thank you very much for your time both."  
"Yes, thank you." Henrik dismissed, although his eyes narrowed as he caught the puzzled look Mr Self pointed in Tabby's direction.

As the door shut Henrik whipped his gaze towards the young doctor, still on her feet, grinning to herself as she brought her eyes from the door and sat back down.  
"What are you playing at?"  
"What?" She stared dumbfounded at his question, "I'm not playing at anything." She defended.  
"Yes you are, it's obvious." He kept throwing his accusations at her hoping to get a decent explanation.  
"Like what?" She huffed.  
"Mind games." He stated simply.  
She gave a small chuckle as she realised he had witnessed the tiny nuances of their greeting.  
She began to give her analysis.

"…His grip was firm, but not suffocating, a sign he is more than used to this gesture. But then, I noticed a slight falter in his grip after I had made my adjustments, perhaps surprise to be corrected as he is probably used to having (the literal) upper hand in the shake. I also led the movement, so to have the lead taken from him, he suddenly found himself as follower. Although not major problems, subconsciously they can create doubt as to who's got what power in this new relationship." She explained.

"An adjustment to create a desire for equal power, but also stealing his limelight as leader; perhaps taken as a desire to overpower his position as consultant? You're smile was also fake." He tried to make sense of her psycho-analysis.  
"A mirror of his own façade. Also the words I spoke to him…"  
 _"The pleasure's_ _ **all mine**_ _."  
_ "…I had taken away some of his implied ownership of the situation." She grinned pleased with herself.  
"Executed perfectly, you knocked him down at every opportunity you got." He lowered his head and looked over his glasses, "I think this will make for an interesting relationship, don't you?" He smirked proud of his new doctor.

She glided onto the ward of Keller, butterflies fluttering in her belly, a nervous grin a mile wide stretching across her face. Flicking Henrik's birthday present around her neck, she wiggled and scrunched her fingers, taking deep breaths to calm her excitement, she finally felt like she belonged in the maroon scrubs that adorned her slender frame.  
She stopped by the nurses station and scanned the ward, _'This had better go fucking well for how hard I worked for it.'_  
"I believe these are for you." With a grin Essie dumped a huge pile of patient notes on top of the counter, "Have fun."  
"Oh why thank you very much." Tabby feigned.  
She began to flick through each of the files, taking in important pieces of information.  
"Right, I won't be long." Tabby then turned and headed in the direction of the nearest bed.  
Essie couldn't help but gawp as she tried to work out how much time had passed since she gave the pile to the young doctor.  
"6 minutes." She muttered to herself in disbelief.

"Hello Ms Mason, my name's Dr Rees, I'm just going to take a note of your stats if you don't mind?" Tabby picked out the plastic folder from the bottom of the bed.  
"That's no problem." She smiled.  
"How are you feeling at the moment?" She made a note of the numbers on the monitor.  
"Ok, a few twinges now and again."  
"Have you vomited today, or do you feel nauseous at all?" Tabby slipped the folder back in its place.  
"Not today no, just aching, right across here." She rubbed her hand over her stomach.  
Tabby furrowed her brow as she studied the area her patient pointed to, "Do you have any pain anywhere else?"  
"Umm, well, not really, it just feels like it goes right through." She placed her other hand on her back.  
"Give me two moments." Tabby turned and headed towards the nurses station, "Mr Levy, Ms Mason - bed 1, the notes suggest a possible appendicitis, yet I'm not entirely convinced. May I possibly take over her care, please?"  
"What you thinking, Remarkable Rees?" Sacha gave a cheeky glance to his fiancé.  
"I'd like to take a closer look, she's complaining of symptoms that don't really fit." She looked hopeful.  
"Well you are a doctor aren't you?" Sacha gave her a wink.  
As Tabby gave a coy look towards her feet, another consultant strolled up casually behind her.  
"Tabitha, may I have a quick word?" Ric motioned over the side, "We already know you're a good doctor, you've been treating patients in this hospital for over a year now. You're not like the other student doctors here, you don't need to do rotations or assessments, you've already done the hard parts; the only place you now have to impress us is in the operating theatre. So don't invert yourself to F1 status and start sucking up to everyone because you're past that already, have some confidence, you belong here, and the rest of the team know that." He gave her a quick pat on the shoulder before heading back down the ward.  
She furrowed her brow and smiled to herself, _'He's right Tabby, you're already a fully qualified doctor, now own this place like you did before.'_ She nodded determinedly and turned back towards her patient, notes in hand.

"Ms Mason, how many times had you vomited before being brought up to us?" She flicked through the notes.  
"Call me Jess. Um, several, I don't know how many exactly." She suddenly held her mouth shut and heaved slightly.  
"Ok, just relax." She quickly ran to her side and held a tray in front of her.  
Jessica took a deep breath and slumped back into the pillows, "I'm sorry."  
"It's no problem, there's probably nothing more to come up." Tabby placed the tray on the table, "How's your diet?" She referred back to the notes.  
"Normal, I used to eat a lot of fast food when I was working in the middle of town, it was just easy to pop down to McDonald's or Burger King than it was to grab a sandwich somewhere. I put on a lot of weight; I was 16 stone by the time I switched jobs. I then drastically changed my diet and began walking to work. I came down to 12 stone within a year." She grinned proud of her achievement.  
"That's brilliant." Tabby took it down on the notes, but as she heard Jess heave again she looked up, and watched with intrigue at the way she rubbed her chest, "Are you having any other symptoms other than the pain and vomiting?" Tabby motioned her eyes towards Jess's chest.  
"Just a little bit of heart burn, nothing out of the ordinary." Jess shrugged it off.  
"How long have you had it?"  
"A few months, I've started eating cauliflower a bit more now, I never used to like it but I find when I add it to a broccoli bake, it's not too bad. Well I think anything smothered in grilled cheese tastes better. I just assumed it was that- Ow!" She suddenly bent double and clutched her stomach.  
Tabby reached to the end of the bed and squirted some sanitiser on her hands, "Right sit back for me."

Meanwhile a tall, dark figure had entered the ward and stood at a distance, watching as Tabby took over the care of Jessica Mason, _'It's nice to see she hasn't lost her confidence.'_ He thought to himself as he witnessed her bonding and treatment of the patient.

Feeling around Jess's stomach Tabby looked at the nurse who was stood ready to help, "Right, Erika, can we get LFT's, CBC's, and amylase, and can we order an ultrasound and CT please; in the meantime 5mg morphine to ease the pain." Tabby took another squirt of sanitiser and gave Jess a reassuring look, "Don't panic, I need more evidence but I do believe your condition is common and more than treatable."  
"Thank you doctor." She smiled before leaning her head back and rubbing her stomach.

Tabby wandered over to the nurses station and began scribbling on Jessica's notes: _Re-query gallstones._ Suddenly there was a deep sexy voice in her ear, "What are your thoughts then, Miss Rees?" Henrik smirked awaiting her answer. Both Sacha and Essie looked up towards her as well, adding slightly to the pressure.  
"Um, the notes suggested appendicitis, but for me the symptoms don't fit. When I asked her where the pain was her hand was too high on her stomach to be near the appendix. She also mentioned the pain seemed to spread to her back as well. She's been suffering from heart burn for several months and she seems knackered, like she's had no sleep whatsoever. I mean look at her…" She turned back to look at her patient, the others following her gaze, "… She just can't seem to get comfortable. I'm querying gallstones." She looked up at her Boss/Lover, awaiting _his_ answer.  
"What tests are you doing?" Henrik still looked at Jessica.  
"Liver function, complete blood count, and amylase, I've also ordered an ultrasound and CT scan." She listed.  
Henrik nodded, "And if you are correct what is your plan of treatment?" He turned back to Tabby.  
"Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy."  
"Good. Mr Levy I'd like to take over the mentoring role here, would you be happy with that?"  
Sacha raised his eyebrows, "Yep, no problem."

He then walked beside Tabby as she headed down the ward, "How are you feeling? Is it good to be back?" He raised his eyebrow, a casual smile lining his lips.  
"Nervy, but looking forward to it, I just got to keep telling myself it's no different from before, only this time I get to take the treatment further." She grinned.  
"Exactly." He nodded, "Although by following through the surgical procedure the life of the patient now hangs in _your_ hands, no palming them off to the surgical team, you are part of the surgical team now." He warned.  
"Cheers, Henrik, I take it you weren't there when I said I was nervous." She rolled her eyes.  
"For now you'll be assisted by the more senior members of the team. Then as your skills develop you'll be expected to do more procedures on your own. But you're never more than one shout, or phone call away from help, if you need it, ask for it, saving a life is more important than saving face, it's ok to say you can't do it occasionally, and you're never expected to go it alone, not ever." He stopped and turned to her as they reached the quieter end of the ward, and looked down to her, his expression soft and sympathetic.  
"Thank you, Henrik."  
He shook his head, "How do you feel about taking on another patient today?"  
Tabby drew her head back in surprise, "Um, I don't know, wouldn't that be a bit above me for the moment?"  
"I don't think so, I think you're more than capable."  
"I don't know." Tabby shook her head.  
"Come. I'll introduce you, you can make a start and if you don't feel up to it there's no problem." Henrik motioned for her to follow him.

"This is Mr Wells, he brought himself onto Keller." Henrik explained.  
"Friend of Ms Campbell's, but I didn't get the memo that she'd moved wards." He explained.  
"Right, may I ask what the problem is?" Tabby furrowed her brow, the guy didn't appear to be ill.  
"Take a look at that." He removed the blanket and showed off his knee, which was not in the right position. He glanced up to the two doctors who both raised their eyebrows at the sight, "That ain't right, is it?"  
"Is that your knee cap?" Tabby asked shocked as she looked closer at the bone which had shifted to the side of his knee.  
"I think so." He chuckled looking up at Mr Hanssen, who gave him a puzzled look.  
"Did you not think this was a job for the ED, or Orthopaedics perhaps?" The CEO wondered about the use of the GS ward for this patient.  
"I didn't know where I was going to be honest, but I remembered Serena used to work here so I hobbled over." He explained, he seemed almost chuffed with his injury.  
"Doesn't it hurt?" Tabby asked putting on some gloves.  
"Does it hurt, tell you what, you try twisting your kneecap round then walking on it for 3 days."  
"3 days?" She looked at the guy dumbfounded before getting back to examining the injury, "Tell me if you feel any tenderness." She took one gentle prod and he suddenly yelped, "I'd take that as a yes then. You know you should have gone to A&E the moment it happened right?"  
"Yeah, but, I was confused, I mean, I didn't do anything to it." His expression now held a faint look of worry as he glanced between the couple beside his bed.  
"What do you mean?" Tabby stood up straight.  
"I was just lolling about the house and suddenly it slipped, no crack, no knock to it, it just slid round. I was in so much pain I couldn't get to my phone for like a day." He explained.  
"Do you do any sports or anything?" Tabby tried to make sense of it.  
"I play rugby for Clifton RFC." He suggested.  
"Have you dislocated your knee before, or knocked it during a match?"  
He shook his head, "Nope, it's been knocked but not serious enough to cause injury."  
She removed her gloves, "OK, well I'll get you a consult from Orthopedics and we'll take it from there." She smiled and wandered back down the corridor, Henrik in tow, "And how come you haven't decided to send him down to AAU or somewhere more suitable than here?"  
"Why should I? He's already made the effort to get here I think it would be rude to send him elsewhere now." He defended.  
"Henrik Hanssen, the epitome of etiquette, the ever polite socialite, never to question the motives of others, just lets them get on with things because otherwise it's rude." She dug as she reached over the nurses station for the phone. Picking up the receiver she dialled a few numbers before placing it to her ear, "Hello, It's Dr Rees from Keller, I'd like an Orthopedic consult for a patient please? The name is David Wells, 12/08/87… Cool, thank you."

Tabby decided to spend her time trawling online, researching for her patient's, when one of the nurses brought her attention away.  
"Miss Rees, I think you should take a look at this." She nodded her head towards the patient.  
Tabby followed, an expectant puzzled look on her face as the nurse stood on the other side of Jessica.  
"Take a look at her eyes." She pointed around Jess's eyes.  
Jess looked up at Tabby, concern spreading across her face, as Tabby looked intently into her eyes.  
"Can you look to your right please?" Tabby nodded as she saw the discolouration of the whites of her eyes, "Erika, may you please track down her bloods and we'll do her ultrasound here now." She turned back to Jess who looked almost panicked by this point, "Jessica, we've noticed you've developed slight jaundice which is supporting my diagnosis, but we still can't be sure. I feel sure enough though to tell you I think you may have gallstones, easily treatable and we should be able to remove them all with a laparoscopic procedure.  
Having knowledge of your past diet says to me they're probably cholesterol stones caused by too much cholesterol in the bile, as you indicated to me you used to eat a lot of fatty foods. You also used to be obese and have lost a lot of weight, this weight loss may have caused the liver to secret extra cholesterol, not your fault it's a natural bodily response.  
Other risk factors include your age, being in your mid 40's you're now in a risk factor category for many common ailments, and the condition is also more common in females.  
The jaundice could be caused by a gallstone blocking the common bile duct, which is the tube that connects the liver and gallbladder to the small intestine, the bile then helps to digest fat. Jaundice is just a physical symptom that shows the liver isn't able to do its job properly."

Behind her the nurse wheeled over the ultrasound scanner and started setting up.  
"We're going to do your ultrasound now which should show us whether or not there is anything in the gallbladder. If it is gallstones we should be able to see them as small pale balls floating around in the organ." She smiled and turned to the monitor as the nurse began scanning, "Come up a bit." Tabby instructed the nurse, "And over to the left slightly." A small smirk began to line her lips, she turned the monitor towards Jess, "As clear as day, can you see that?" She pointed out the small white dots on the screen, "They are your pesky stones, now this is where the bile duct starts and it runs down here." She followed an imaginary line across the screen, "So here is the stone that's blocking it, the problem with this is if it dislodges and travels down the duct to the duodenum, it's going to get even more painful as it travels through the intestines and at some point you may even end up passing it in your stool, which is not a nice situation." They all giggled slightly, "Good news is, I'm happy to proceed with surgery right away, I don't think I need any more convincing, how about you Erika?"  
"Looks clear to me what it is." She nodded, she'd seen this plenty of times before to not even question what was on the screen.  
"How about you Jess?"  
"You're the doctor."  
"Do we have your consent?" Tabby made sure she was ready.  
"Yep." Jess gave a deep breath as she realised she said that way too readily.  
"Excellent, we'll get you the necessary forms to sign and get you prepped for theatre." Tabby smiled as she turned and headed for the desk whilst Erika cleaned up the scanner.

As she flicked through her notes a voice piped up behind her.  
"I believe you have a patient for me." Came the slightly eloquent yet obnoxious male voice in her ear.  
She recognised it immediately and as her face dropped the grin of the face behind widened.  
"I'll show you the way then shall I? _James_." She spun round and her look of disdain helped the amused grin grow a mile wide.


	3. Chapter 3

"This is Mr Wells-"  
"David." He held his hand out to the new doctor.  
Tabby eyed the hand shake, irritated, "-He has a displaced knee cap, not caused by any knock or injury. He plays rugby and trains several nights a week, he's fit and active and eats a large yet well balanced diet. He's at peak fitness and health. Now it's your turn to work it out, Einstein." She handed over the patient notes and quickly turned to leave.  
"Erm, Tabby, isn't there someone you're forgetting to introduce?" He gave a wink to David.  
Tabby made her way back to the bedside, "Mr Wells, this is Mr James Harvey, Orthopedic consultant, he's unable to introduce himself but he'll be taking over your care from now on." She feigned a cheesy smile and went to walk away again when the 'Twat of a night shift Orthopod' stopped her in her tracks again.  
"Um, Tabitha, I'd quite like you on this case with me, I think you'll learn a lot…"  
"I've got a patient." She tried to stop him.  
"…Maybe I can seduce you into the world of healing the ligaments and bones that help you wield a scalpel, or walk you around this hospital, or let you talk even."  
"Are the ligaments in the jaw easily damaged?" Tabby questioned.  
"Why?" He furrowed his brow.  
"Just wondered." She then escaped with haste towards the exit, leaving James to chuckle to himself, amused by her wit.

As she reached the door Erika came running up to her quickly, "Dr Rees? Ms Mason's consent forms, all signed and ready to go." She handed over the clipboard.  
"Thank you, Erika." She called back as she made her way to the lift.  
Without taking the time to prepare herself like she used to she knocked on Hanssen's door.  
"Come." Came the faint call through the door.  
"Ah, Tabitha." He seemed pleased to see her.  
She held up the clipboard, no explanation needed, Henrik got to his feet and, doing up the button on his suit jacket, he headed for the door and followed her to the ward.  
"Feel ready?" He walked and talked.  
"As I'll ever be." She sighed.  
"You know how the procedure is done, you just talk her through the important bits." He explained.  
"I thought-"  
"That's the surgeon's job after all."  
She suddenly halted, "But-"  
"You want to be a surgeon, don't you?" He too then stopped and turned back towards her.  
She stared at him in disbelief, "You want me to lead?"  
"Is that a problem?"  
"It's my first day back."  
"No point in starting any later, don't you think?" He carried on down the corridor.

Tabby jogged to catch up with him, "Do you think I'm even ready? I've only ever operated on prosthetics."  
"I'll be in there with you and this may well be one of the simplest procedures you will do in your career. We'll even give you use of the 3D Stack." He tempted as he glanced down to her.  
It was clear she was getting herself in a tizzy.  
He halted before the doors to the ward, "You've studied the procedure on your course?"  
She nodded, eyes glued to the floor.  
"You know how use laparoscopic tools?"  
She nodded again.  
"You're used to using a 3D stack?"  
Again she agreed.  
"Then you have nothing to fear. I don't doubt you."  
Her head suddenly shot up and she witnessed the proud smirk that began to line his lips. A similar smile spread across her face and with a look of determination, she pushed open the doors and made a bee line for her patient.

"Ms Mason, Mr Hanssen and I are going to explain the procedure to you, now here are your consent forms, this is your signature?" Tabby pointed to Jess's personal scribble at the bottom.  
"Yep." She confirmed.  
"And this is todays date?" She pointed at the date Jess had written.  
"Mm hm." She nodded.  
"Good." She placed it on the table in front of Jessica, "Now, if at any point during the explanation you feel that you no longer want to go through with this, feel free to scribble out your name, rip up your consent, and chuck it in the bin. This is _your_ decision, it's only our _recommendation_. Feel free to pipe up at any point if you don't understand anything or want to ask a question. OK?"  
"Yes." Jess smiled nervously and nodded.  
"The procedure we're going to complete is called a Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy. We make small incisions in your abdomen to insert a camera and the tools we'll be using inside you. Each incision is about yay big." She held her thumb and index finger a couple of centimetres apart from each other.  
"…We'll inflate your abdomen with some carbon dioxide gas, this will cause you no harm it just helps us see inside a bit better, then we remove the entire gallbladder through the larger of the 3 incisions. When we take out the tools you'll deflate, then we stitch you up, and let you recover for a couple of hours, you should be able to go home later on this evening. How does that sound?"  
"It sounds hilarious." Jess giggled, "I'm going to deflate!" She made an impression of her deflating like a big balloon before she and Tabby burst into a fit of giggles.  
Erika and Henrik took one look at each other and rolled their eyes.  
"Come on Jess, it's a serious matter." Tabby coughed trying to control her laughter.  
"Why does my entire gallbladder have to be removed?" She suddenly sounded serious again.  
"It would be a very difficult procedure to just remove the gallstones, if the stones were in the bile duct we would do a procedure called an Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangio-Pancreatography in which we wouldn't touch the gallbladder, but yours are just sitting in the gallbladder. Normally we can leave them alone, but for you they're causing you a lot of pain which is interfering with your life style, this way you'll never have to put with them again." Tabby explained.  
Jess nodded, staring at the consent form for a bit, "What will happen to me without a gallbladder then?"  
"Nothing, the gallbladder isn't all that essential, your liver will still produce bile, and you'll be able to carry on eating normally."  
Jess picked up the clipboard and looked it over one more time, "This is all yours then." She handed it over, "It's a common procedure isn't it?"  
"This is the sort of procedure these guys do when they're bored in between meetings the more interesting surgeries." She pointed to Henrik, a cheeky smile conveying the fun the team seemed to have, "Our nursing team will get you prepped and you'll be in and out there within no time." She and Henrik then turned and headed to get prepared themselves.  
"Did you not think it necessary to let her know this was your very first operation?" Henrik's tone held a warning note.  
"I think that would have put both of us into a terrified meltdown. If I pretend like I've been doing this a while, which technically I have, it won't appear too daunting." She grimaced, unconvinced.

"Miss Rees!"  
"Bollocks." She muttered to herself whilst beside her Henrik turned to the caller.  
"Ah, Mr Harvey, is there problem?" Henrik engaged the doctor.  
"It's just I'd like to get Tabitha's opinion on our knee patient." He chuckled nervously, eyeing Tabitha, who still hadn't turned around yet.  
"Yes well I'm afraid Miss Rees has got a theatre slot soon so she is currently-" Henrik attempted but Tabby suddenly spun round to the conversation.  
"No, it's fine, I can do both, have you ran an X-ray or MRI yet?" She asked exacerbated.  
"Er, no, not yet." He seemed taken aback by her sudden interest.  
"Then run one whilst I'm in theatre and we can look over it when I get back." She ordered, before turning and heading for the door.  
"I do apologise, it must be first-day-back nerves." Henrik covered then swiftly followed in her direction.

Henrik rounded the corner to spot Tabby pacing the corridor outside the theatre; she appeared to be muttering to herself. Her fingers twitched and twizzled as if she had the tools in her hands, her eyes were lost in her forehead as she ran through her movements, suddenly she fisted her hands tightly and huffed before dropping all her revision and leaning against the wall, pinching her sinus irritated.  
Henrik decided it was safe to approach, "Do not get yourself worked up, you almost always guarantee mistakes when you think about them. Jump the hurdles as you reach them."  
Realising his words were very wise (aren't they always?) she nodded and tipped her head up to the ceiling, blowing out to slow her breaths, she really didn't want to hyperventilate now.  
That's when he noticed something unusual, "Is your nose bleeding?" He stepped closer to have a look.  
Tabby swiftly wiped under her nose to reveal the bright red liquid trickling from the orifice, "Darn it." She held her hand under it to stop it dripping on anything else.  
Henrik pulled out his handkerchief from his inside suit pocket, "Come here." He held the back of her head with one hand and placed the hanky under her nose with the other, "This hasn't been brought on by anything in particular has it? No head bumps or knocks to your face?" He checked.  
She shook her head lightly.  
"Just a stress thing?" He confirmed, knowingly.  
"Just a stress thing." She sighed in agreement, as she eyed her lover in matching maroon scrubs.

Soon their patient was wheeled around the corner, being followed by a smartly dressed woman, striding with confidence; her hair was scrunched into a tight clip at the back, her lime green blouse was pristine and her black suit neatly pressed, her heels clip-clopped around the corridor; Tabby felt a wave of instant dislike (and strangely overwhelming intimidation) slip through her as the woman's face lit up with a bright smile towards Henrik.  
"Mr Hanssen, I must apologise for my tardiness, it's so nice to see you again." Her handshake seemed dainty, the way she held her hand for it was almost like she expected him to take it and lift it to his lips, "Gosh, how long has it been?" Her voice was obnoxiously loud and over-enunciated.  
Henrik chuckled, "About 3 years I believe." He too appeared to be so enthralled with the conversation.  
For the 30 odd seconds the two got themselves acquainted again Tabby felt invisible, like for once Henrik had completely ignored her existence, she grimaced inwardly as she began to feel unimportant to her significant other for the first time since they'd met. That's when she was ripped from her thoughts by hearing her name suddenly.  
"Tabitha, this is Ms Imogen Bryce-Hall, she is a surgeon specialising in Otolaryngology; an area which involves many organs I too am interested in. Ms Bryce, this is Dr Tabitha Rees, she is a newly qualified surgeon, but an old member of the medical society." Henrik introduced the two.  
"Old dog, new tricks, eh? It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I can't wait to see you in theatre, I don't get see many surgeries you see as I'm normally the one performing them." She giggled.  
"Ms Bryce is very well-known in her field and is one of only a few Otolaryngologists to perform new advanced surgical techniques to be tried and tested worldwide." It seemed Henrik really admired this woman's work.  
She gave a flirtatious giggle as she turned back to the Swede dishing the compliments, "Aw Henrik, you flatter me, but I think you and Tabby had best be scrubbing in." She gave Hanssen a wink, an action that did not go unnoticed by Tabby and made her skin crawl. How dare she try flirting with someone else's man? Admittedly though Henrik had never said a word, or gave indication, to the two of them being an item…

Scrubbing in, Tabitha had never felt so lonely, even with the surgical team surrounding her, and her Henrik scrubbing next to her. Why had he not said anything about the two of them? Perhaps he considered it unprofessional and trivial in a business situation. But that didn't account for the feeling of being forgotten, even when they finally involved her in the conversation she felt like the child between her parent and her parent's ex; she had to be mentioned because she was there but otherwise, she had nothing to contribute.  
She was still on autopilot as she stood beside the patient whilst the team completed a tool count.  
"Any preference on music, Tabitha?" The cheery anaesthetist tried to lighten the mood.  
"Silence is fine." She replied flatly.  
Henrik raised his head slightly in intrigue at her tone, then turned towards the gallery where Imogen stood, waiting for the main event to unfold, "Lights, audience, action." He winked, finishing on a husky note.  
Tabitha eyed him suspiciously as his eyes gazed into to the gallery, a moment longer than she felt comfortable with. She held out her hand, "Scalpel." She ordered, not taking her eyes off Hanssen until he finally turned back to the action.  
She took a quick calming breath before making the three incisions, Henrik watching over her movements with deep interest.

She was happily set up with her tools and was progressing nicely, but she was a little distracted. Her movements were fluid, her cuts precise, and every aspect of the procedure was done with utmost diligence. She was meticulous; making sure each step was completed correctly and without stupid mistakes. She was now lost in her world of surgery and enjoying every minute of it, the only thing that ruined it for her was this inane mumbling sound coming from the end of her patient, it just wouldn't stop.  
"So, Tabby, your first time leading in theatre, eh? How do you like the taste of it then?" The anaesthetist tried to keep the banter flowing.  
"It's not bad, I just wish I had an anaesthetist who would give his aching jaw a rest for 5 minutes." She carried on concentrating on her work as the rest of the team gave a soft chuckle.  
"Received loud and clear, I was only asking because I wondered if they were to be any celebrations tonight?" He smiled hopeful for an invite for some beers after work.  
"Nope, nothing planned." She gave an irritated glance in his direction.  
"The CEO's not even taking you on a celebratory date?" He gave Hanssen a cheeky look to make sure he knew he was kidding around.  
"No, he's probably left his wallet at home anyway." Tabby made the final snip.  
"I'm almost certain that's bullshit Miss Rees, I reckon he'd buy you anything you wanted, go on, ask him for pony." He grinned as he made a few notes on the patient's stats.  
"Henrik, I want a pony, it has to be brown and spotty with a fuzzy mane and tail, and he must be called Freddy. Kidney dish." She began to gently pull the gallbladder through the small hole of Jess's abdomen.  
"I'm sure that can be arranged." Henrik replied absently, carefully watching Tabby's actions.  
"See told you he would." The anaesthetist flicked a few buttons and ticked some things off on his clipboard.  
"Well I think someone else is bullshitting now." Tabby placed the organ on the dish for the nurse to dispose of and gave a small relaxed sigh, looking to Henrik for his reaction.  
"Nicely done." He commented admiringly.  
Tabby smiled to herself, but it still didn't feel warm to her, she glanced towards gallery where Imogen seemed to have a smug look on her face, she was still staring at Hanssen.  
"Now it's just time to dazzle with your suturing prowess." His eyes revealed his grin under his mask.  
Tabby rolled her eyes, "4-0 Nylon on a PS-2 please." She stuck straight in.  
"Good, I'll let you get on, and I'll go and debrief our observer." Henrik turned to scrub out.  
Tabby paused, her shoulders dropped as she gave a huff.  
"Something the matter?" The anaesthetist had a more concerned look on his face this time.  
"No, it's fine, you can stick some tunes on if you like." And silently she got back on with her sutures.

After scrubbing out she wondered out into the corridor to find Henrik talking with Imogen, they appeared to be transfixed with each other. Her heart melted as she watched her lover's eyes gazing deeply into another woman's, his full attention, on another woman, and not a single thing seemed to distract him, from this other woman. This woman was more intelligent, more skilled, and more successful than Tabby, she also had prettier hair, a symmetrical face, a gorgeous body, had smooth and slender legs, and a style that was smart and on-point, completely opposite to Tabby's quirky tone. She was everything Tabby wasn't; did this attract Henrik away from her? Was this woman exactly what Henrik wanted? Was Tabby not enough for him anymore?  
With her demon adorning emerald iris's, she began past them, and not a glance in their direction, "Mr Hanssen, I'll see you back on the ward for the patient debrief, I must meet with Mr Harvey." Her tone gave away her annoyance, and as she rounded the corner out of the way Imogen gave Henrik a surprised look.

"David, has Mr Harvey been taking good care of you?" She grinned.  
"He's been doing a wonderful job yes." David nodded, his knee was now safely in a splint.  
"Aw, am I not needed anymore then?" She feigned upset.  
"Of course you are, I need some eye candy to help me recover quicker don't I?" He gave her a wink.  
Whilst this flirtatious conversation carried on Henrik strolled onto the ward, his piercing eyes scanning the room for the young surgeon.  
He halted by the nurses station as he watched the intriguing scene. Tabby's hand rested on Mr Wells' pillow, her chest was puffed out and her expression was coy, she seemed to giggle at nearly everything the young man said. David too seemed to be displaying himself, his right leg was bent with his foot resting flat on the bed providing a view of what's on offer, his eyes kept wondering up and down Tabby's body, which seemingly didn't go unnoticed by Tabby either, and he was very engaged in the conversation. And of course the conversation didn't seem to be about his treatment either.  
He'd had enough and began to stalk towards the pair, "Do we have a diagnosis yet Miss Rees?" His question was sharp.  
Tabby didn't move from her coquettish stance, but from the look of dimmed fury on his face she could see her actions had worked, "Not yet, Mr Hanssen; Mr Harvey and I are working on it." She stared her man down from across the bed, neither of them giving in.  
That's when a small bleeping sound started from David's direction, "Oops, sorry, I pressed a button, didn't mean to, I'm sorry." He held up the remote in his hand, looking to see which button he'd accidently pressed.  
"That's no problem, I'll just reset it a second, don't mind me." She leaned across David, her chest dangling closely over his face, as she reached for the button on the bar behind the bed.  
Henrik figured this action was a deliberate attempt to piss him off, and boy, did it work, he could have been nicknamed Thomas for the metaphorical description of anger he portrayed, "Tabitha, see me in my office, now!" He growled.


	4. Chapter 4

"That is an inappropriate way to act with a patient!" He left the door open for Tabby as he headed straight for the middle of the room.  
"Oh, I do apologise, Mr Hanssen, but I was under the impression flirting had become part of the curriculum since I've been away." She retorted, almost slamming the door behind her.  
"Then you are very much mistaken." His face like thunder he spun round to face her.  
She squared up to him and folded her arms, "If that's the case then you'd better start leading by example, Henrik." She shrugged.  
"What on earth are you talking about?" He shook his head.  
"I'm sorry, I didn't realise I needed to spell it out for you? I-M-O-G-E-N." She counted the letters on each of her fingers, a violent tone emphasizing each letter.  
Henrik rolled his eyes and gave an exacerbated chuckled.  
"Don't be like that, Henrik; you have been all over that woman since she arrived." Her anger was now slowly morphing to include upset, "She comes swanning down that corridor, her Gucci heels, clean pressed M&S suit, and you couldn't take your eyes off her for a minute, not even to pay a little bit of attention to your own girlfriend who was currently in an anxious meltdown about the very first surgical procedure of her career. It pissed me off a little you know?" She stared at him, waiting for his reply.  
He folded his arms and tilted his head, not taking on a single word of hers, "Why would I be interested in her?"  
"Oh, I don't know, maybe because she's successful, she's _famous_ in the surgical field, she's a pro in an area of medicine that includes your interest in the Larynx. She's a social magnet, people flock around her because she's so good at conversation; she's interesting and smart. And above _all_ that, she's sexy!" She held the back of her hand to her mouth as she attempted to hold back the tears.  
"You're sexy when you're angry." He spoke quietly, his features had softened slightly, and he began to walk towards her.  
"No." She shook her head and backed away slightly.  
"I can't believe you think I'm that vain to allow those sorts of attributes to attract me to a woman." He placed his hands on her arms in an attempt at a tender gesture.  
She circled her arms to remove his grasp, "Get off me, Henrik." She spat, turning her back to him.

He huffed, "Well I need apologise as well then, as I didn't realise you were so _dense_ to think that flirting with another male, a patient of all people, was an appropriate way of getting back at me-"  
She spun round, "At least he paid attention to me!" She hissed.  
"Oh, here we go." He rolled his eyes again.  
"Go on then, call me what you want, tell me I'm the _slut_ you always thought I was! Tell me I'm as stupid as you always thought I was, because quite frankly I agree, I stooped that low just to get your attention, and I've got it now haven't I?" Her smirk was fierce.  
"You most certainly have." His voice was a dangerously low growl that made Tabby gulp, suddenly she wondered if she'd made a huge mistake deciding to pick a fight with Mr Henrik Hanssen, whether he was her boyfriend or not.  
That's when she suddenly spun towards the door, flicked the bolt across, then turned and threw herself at Henrik. She twisted his tie around her hand and yanked him down to her level, violently taking his lips.  
He went along with the kiss until he felt her hand start to massage his crotch, "Tabitha, I'm not doing this with you, not now." He warned.  
She then squeezed him through his trousers and pushed him against the desk, " **Don't** …" She vigorously unclasped his belt, "… **you** …" She ripped open his button, "… _ **fuck**_ with me, Henrik!" She whipped down his zip and reached in for his cock, which was strangely semi-erect through the argument. She began to tug on it fast and hard as he supported himself on the edge of the desk, breathing deeply.  
"Tabitha, this is _very_ wrong." He panted slightly, not even attempting to stop Tabby's movements.  
"I don't care, Henrik, because you need to know what you would be missing out on." She dropped to her knees and took his cock all the way into her mouth and started sucking roughly.  
"Because you think I'm going to leave you for Ms Bryce-Hall?" He entangled his fingers in her hair as he enjoyed the sensation of her hot mouth enveloping him.  
"Well she's exactly your type isn't she?" She licked down to the base then gently dragged her teeth back up to the end.  
"And your type is some buffed up rugby player with slick hair and a cheeky twinkle in his eye? Well good luck trying to get him to stick around." He suddenly winced as she made a quick nip at the head of his member before she got to her feet.

As she stood she pulled down her scrub trousers, pulling her white plimsolls off with them, and then she pulled her top off over her head and stood, akimbo, her porcelain skin bare bar her black lacy thong and bra, "Of course that's all I'm interested in are sordid one night stands." She approached him and lifted a knee up to his hip, resting it on the desk, she brought her face within mere millimetres of his, "And by looks of things today I'd be lucky to get _you_ to stick around as well." She whispered. She felt his long, hard organ twitch against her between her legs, and was enjoying the sensation as she held his glare for a moment when he abruptly wrapped his hands around her waist, picked her up and place her down where he was just standing.  
In an attempt to steady herself she bent over the desk, but she felt herself held there and before she knew what was going on there was a loud *Thwak* that resounded round the room.

"Uh!" She cried in a mix of surprise and pleasure.  
Several more times his hand smacked down on her pert arse, it was hard and authoritative and made her moan into his desk.  
Saying nothing he pulled aside the gusset of her thong and ran his fingers through her folds, she was getting very wet. Slowly he slipped a finger inside, "Do you really think so?" His voice was deep and stoic.  
Tabby began to pant as his finger thrust into her, "Henrik, you're such a prick." She puffed out quickly.  
At this Henrik raised an eyebrow and immediately thrust a second finger in harshly, "Thank you." He huffed, slightly insulted.  
After enjoying his fingers stroking inside her for a few more minutes she decided it was her turn to get back at him and twisting out of his grip she turned and pushed him back towards the sofa at the end of his office.

With a thud he collapsed back into the seat and before he had a chance to complain she had already straddled him. His cock rested against her clit and she rocked her hips, rubbing her sensitive, tiny bundle of nerves over him. Her eyes glided down his body, she recognised the suit, so she reached into his inside pocket, fumbled her fingers around a little, and came across the small packet she was looking for.  
Ripping it open she reached down between her legs, eyeing her lover's warning gaze.  
"Are you sure this a proper place to be doing this?" His eyes gave a flash of concern.  
She leaned down to whisper in his ear, "The door is locked." She leaned over to his other ear, "I promise to be quiet." She leaned back to his other ear, "And you need to be taught a lesson." As she leaned back away she gave a flash of her eyebrows, daring him to retort. She reached between her legs and lined his member up with her entrance.  
"What lesson?" He did well to not react as she slid herself down onto him giving a quiet groan of acceptance into her.  
As she began to rock her hips onto him she rolled her head back, "I thought that was obvious." She panted.  
"I, was not, flirting." With each word he thrusted up into her, not once taking his irked leer away from her.  
"I bet you would miss this." She moaned as she bounced enthusiastically on top of him.  
"I'm aned as she bounced enthusiastically on top of him."head back, "d a quiet groan of acceptance into her. fingers around slightlsure I would." He closed his eyes, finally his libido was taking control.  
"Don't be such a fucking obnoxious twat." She winced as her climax came close.  
"Don't…" He couldn't finish his sentence before Tabby started moaning louder.  
She grabbed his tie and wrapped it around her hand, tugging it to help her steady herself through her orgasm.  
Henrik panicked slightly at the volume of her lewd noises, he gripped the fabric between the cups of her bra which made her realise how loud she was getting. He noticed her breasts had started peaking-out of her bra which pushed him over the edge, his sudden thrust deep into her made her shudder into him in orgasmic pleasure.

"Erika, have seen Miss Rees anywhere?" James leaned over the nurses station, "Is she still in theatre?" He shook his head in confusion.  
"No, they finished a good hour ago." She looked up at the orthopod hoping her information would be beneficial.  
"I think I saw her heading Mr Hanssen's office actually?" Essie strolled up behind and placed some notes onto a pile of files.  
"Thank you." James' face lit up and he headed towards the exit.

Tabby huffed and panted, she wrapped her arms around her lover's shoulders.  
Henrik too let go of her bra and trailed his fingers around her waist to her back.  
A tear began to trickle down her cheek.  
Henrik heard the tiny, inaudible squeak as she tried to hold back her tears, "Tabitha?" His voice was calm yet concerned.  
There was a pause before she sniffed and took a breath to speak, "Henrik, do you love me?"  
He halted his fingers trailing up and down her spine, "Sorry?" He furrowed his brow and awaited her repetition.  
Sniffing again she moved her lips to his ear and spoke very softly, "Henrik?" She whispered. She braced herself for his answer before re-asking her heartfelt question, "Do you still love me?" She nearly didn't finish before a sob needed to be stopped from her.  
Henrik needed no time to think about his answer, "Of course I do."  
As they leaned out of the hug he ran his fingers through her hair.  
"Then why?" She swallowed, desperately looking to Henrik for his answer.  
"Why what?"  
"Why the extra attention on her?"  
Henrik gave a sigh, "Ms Bryce is looking at general surgery of organs of the digestive system in order to find new techniques and ideas to help with oesophageal problems and abnormalities. She is looking at Holby to help her with her research, and if all goes well she'll be able to sort some funding out for us."  
"Hence the VIP treatment." Tabby rolled her eyes, she understood now.  
"If you're still insisting on it, call it professional philandering. I learned from the best." He smiled.  
"I'm sorry?" This confusing comment irked her slightly.  
"I believe you once told me that 'sometimes you need to flash a bit of cleavage to get what you want.'" His smile morphed into a grin.  
Tabby chortled, "Thank you."  
Henrik wrapped a hand around her neck and gently pulled her back down for a loving kiss.

*Knock knock knock*  
Tabby pulled away, startled, "Shit." She hissed.  
Henrik amusedly eyed her over, indicating the compromising position they were in, particularly Tabby as she was the one with the fewest clothes on.  
They waited silently when there came another knock.  
"Mr Hanssen?" Came the faint call from behind the door.  
"It's Mr Harvey." Tabby mouthed to Henrik, who stared at the door, eyes narrowed.  
After a few moments they heard a nonchalant grunt and watched as the shadow of the doctor walked past the frosted glass and out of sight.  
The pair sighed with relief and laughed at their panic, "I think we'd best be getting dressed." He pointedly eyed her nearly naked status and she immediately got herself off him and went to put her clothes back on.

"Do you have some results to show me?" She sauntered on to the ward and raised her eyebrow to the bone doctor.  
"Ah, Tabitha yes, what do you think?" He held the tablet so she could see the scan.  
She stood close to James as she looked over the scan, and caught Henrik's eye as he strolled onto the ward not long after her, giving each other a knowing, trusting smile. He gave her a nod and carried on towards the end of the ward.  
"That looks thin around there." She pointed.  
"Yes, that's what I spotted too. I think there could be some weakness in the muscle and ligaments around the knee joint. What did you say he does sports-wise?" He pulled the tablet away and turned to her for her answer.  
"Rugby." She looked towards the floor; it made sense but not really. Why would doing sport weaken muscles? But before she could confuse herself anymore James explained.  
"Aaah." He rolled his head in sudden understanding, "Think about it, if he's in a ruck, or preparing for a tackle, and they jump a lot, there's lots of bending of the knee going on. Now you'd think squatting and things would strengthen the muscles, in the thigh yes, but those movements put a lot of pressure on the knee joint which actually has the opposite effect."  
"So do you have a diagnosis?" She looked up to him hoping he had…

"Patellar Tracking Disorder, brought on by simple overuse of the knee joint." James smiled almost proudly.  
"So what does that mean?" David shook his head and decided to look to Tabby for the Layman's answer.  
"You play rugby, when you go into scrums, get ready for a tackle, or prepare to jump for a line out you squat. All this squatting puts pressure on the knee and begins to weaken the muscles, ligaments, and cartilage around the knee joint, you need all that to keep your knee in place and in working order, when it becomes weak it can't hold the knee, and that's what's happened; your knee isn't being held in place strongly enough so it slipped." She shrugged her shoulders indicating how simple the problem was.  
His face morphed into concern, "Is it fixable?"  
Tabby glanced towards James, his turn to answer, he was the expert after all.  
"Very." He sounded enthusiastic.  
"And will I still be able to play rugby?" He still seemed worried.  
"Yes. It's going to be a long road before you are back up to standard though; the plan of treatment for this disorder takes a lot of hard work and determination from you." James explained hoping David would be willing to put the work in for his recovery.  
"Whatever it takes, doc." David nodded.  
"Right, so the plan is we'll get that knee back into its proper position and strap it up. You'll then want to keep to your sports diet for protein and stimulants to promote tissue repair and strengthening. I'll get in touch with my good mate Gary who'll take you through a physio course which will be based on strengthening your knees. It'll take a few months before you're back to normal but if you stick at it, it should all go smoothly."  
"Thank you guys, and thanks for fitting me in." He aimed that last thanks more to Tabby after remembering their reluctance to treat him on the GS ward.  
"No problem, I'll see you later." James grinned and turned to leave but Tabby stayed behind.

"Do you want me to get Serena to come and see you?" Tabby tilted her head, she was interested in what possible relationship they could have had.  
"No, it's ok. Why?" He noticed the look of interest on her face.  
"No reason, it's just you said you knew her."  
"Old friend." He stated simply before pulling his shirt up and revealing his abdomen.  
Tabby gave him a puzzled look and peered over his stomach to spot a scar, "Operation?"  
"Ruptured spleen. I was involved in a car crash on my way to a game, fucker ran a red. Serena managed to save it though, as well as a few other injuries I had. As a thanks I gave her tickets to come and watch my first game back, we've been good mates ever since. We've sort of lost touch recently though, hence the confusion of what ward she was on, but she told me if I ever ran into trouble, I should try and find her." He explained, pulling his top back down.  
Tabby gave a half smile; she was deep in thought, "Leave it with me." She winked and headed towards the nurses station.

"Miss Rees, Ms Mason's waking up." Erika let the young doctor know as she carried on with her ward duties.  
That's when Tabby felt a firm hand rest on her waist, "Shall we go and debrief do you think?" Henrik leaned down a spoke quietly next to her.  
Essie on the other hand noticed this gesture from the CEO and began to realise what Sacha had meant whenever he described Tabby to her.

"Jessica, how are you feeling?" Tabby lay her notes on the bedside cabinet.  
"Groggy." She rasped.  
Tabby nodded, "Just take it steady, don't rush to try and sit up or talk too much, the general rule of health tends to be if it hurts it's probably not a good idea to carry on with it. Take your time to adjust back into things, would you like us to come back later?" Tabby gave her a sympathetic tilt of her head.  
"No, no, carry on, I'll just lay here and listen." Jess coughed slightly.  
"OK, the operation went very smoothly, I think it's a good time now to tell you that that was my first ever operation on a patient." Tabby grimaced hoping she hadn't panicked her.  
"What?" Jess nearly bolted up but the swimming sensation in her head told her to stop.  
"This is actually my first day back at Holby after acquiring my Bachelor of Surgery. Don't panic I have been a doctor for a few years just not with any surgical training." She explained quickly.  
"Touché, so they've thrown you in the deep end then." Jess gave an admiring smile.  
"Not too deep, your procedure is one of the simplest going, providing things go well, which it did, so my head was still above water. Your gallbladder has been completely removed; you are now stone free and shouldn't have any further complications regarding stones in your digestive system from now on. We're going to let you recover from the anaesthetic, make sure there are no other problems, then we'll get your discharge forms ready and you can go home." Tabby smiled, "Do you have any further questions?"  
"None, you guys have been brilliant, thank you ever so much." Jess began to push herself up to a half sitting up position.  
Tabby helped her tuck some pillows behind her so she could rest her back on something soft, "Thank you for being a considerate and cooperative patient, you don't know how much it means for us to be able to just get on with our jobs without a fuss." Tabby grinned cheekily.  
"Oh, um, could you call my partner? He's been in work all day so he couldn't come with me today but I think he'd like to know how everything went."  
"Of course, I'll get one of the nurses to sort that out for you." Tabby gave Jess a supportive touch to her shoulder and headed off with Henrik.

"Miss Rees." Came the enthusiastic posh tone.  
"Mr Harvey." Tabby spun round to him, her eyes spinning the opposite direction.  
"How would you like to help get David's knee back into place?"  
"I'd love to, but I wouldn't want to get in the way of the work of a genius." She smiled sarcastically and went to walk away again when…  
"Tabitha, is our relationship always going to be this frosty? Is there any way I can de-ice your attitude towards me?" James seemed genuine this time, despite his awful themed pun talks, he made a lot of sense, despite the fact he was an arrogant, public schooled prick with a BMW and Orthopaedic Consultancy lining his trophy shelf he was actually an alright guy, who knew his stuff in his medical field. She thought maybe it was time to de-frost her opinion of him.  
She turned back to him, "You're right, James, you may have run me over once, and have a poker stuck up your arse, but for the majority of the time you're not bad." She nodded, her eyes twinkling of acceptance.  
Henrik meanwhile stood not far behind Tabby, witnessing their interaction, peering over his glasses with intrigue.  
"Sooo, what do you say then?" He nodded his head towards the end of the ward where their knee patient sat waiting for his painful re-aligning.  
Tabby scrunched her face in consideration, "Thanks, but he's your patient, he's got a bone problem, you're a bone doctor, there's nothing more for me to contribute. Let me know how it goes though."  
"Here's to a future of a warm working relationship." He winked then got back to his duties.

Tabitha spent the rest of the afternoon de-stressing after the day's events and catching up on some light paperwork. She then decided to take a stroll back onto Keller. She stood by the door, scanning over the ward; Jess was perched on the edge of her bed, a tall, broad, dark haired man stood next to her akimbo, holding her bag, whilst Erika sorted out her forms and prescription with her. Further down the ward James was stood with Gary watching proudly as David hopped up and down the ward on his new crutches. Tabby liked Keller, it was peaceful, quiet, laid back, but she was one who liked to try a bit of everything before settling on something she liked…

*Knock knock*  
Henrik recognised the slightly timid volume of the knock, "Come in." His call was softer than it usually was when anyone else knocked. As he heard the clunk of the door opening he raised his head to spot Tabby back in her blouse and pencil skirt, jacket and scarf, peering around the door.  
"Hello." She almost whispered.  
"Hello." Henrik gave an upturned smile of amusement as he returned her shy greeting, "Are you all finished?" He went back to his paperwork.  
"Yes, I was just wondering if you were ready, if not I'll keep you company." She drummed her fingernails on the door quietly.  
"I won't be a moment, just need to sign some forms and we'll go home." He didn't look up from the sheets in front of him.  
"To be honest Henrik I could do with a drink. It's been a bit full-on for my first day back." She gave a half-hearted laugh before placing her hand on her hip.  
"That does sound nice actually." Henrik singed his last form and got himself ready to go, picking up his briefcase and smooth, black trench coat and followed Tabby out, locking the door, "And what shall it be tonight then?" He joined next to her as they strolled down the corridor together.  
She sighed, "Bottle of Cab Sauv..."  
He raised his head interested, she had good taste in wines.  
"…With a straw." She finished, she looked up to Henrik expecting a warning glance from him.  
Instead he chuckled, "It can't have been that bad, surely."

Essie caught a glimpse of the couple walking towards the lift as she waited for her significant other to join her. As Sacha arrived she didn't take her eyes off the couple she watched waiting for the lift, "There's no doubt about it, they're definitely together." Essie poked at her partner's previous uncertainty over whether or not the CEO and his former PA were a thing or not.  
Sacha looked over to where her gaze was, "Wow, I didn't think he'd ever be _that_ open with it."  
They both stared in awkward astonishment as Henrik put an arm around Tabby and gave her a tender kiss on the head. They then giggled to themselves; their opinion on the uptight Swede was definitely warped now.


	5. Chapter 5 - Hero

"I'd like to join Darwin this week."  
Henrik's eyes shot up from his laptop to stare bewildered at the Cheshire cat lounging on his sofa at the end of his office, "What?" He furrowed his brow.  
Tabitha carried on inspecting under her nails, "Yeah, I feel like doing something new, trying my hand at something else, challenge myself a bit more."  
Henrik leaned back in his chair and glanced towards the ceiling, "Is this the same Tabitha who just last week was astonished I wanted her to lead in theatre?" He grinned, finally she was coming into her own a little more.  
"Maybe." She nodded, turning to look at her handsome man for his decision.  
He pondered for a moment, "Ok, I'll put you on a rotation on Darwin for a bit. But promise me, no getting above yourself, remember what I told you, if you can't handle it-"  
"Pull out and get help, I know Henrik, no need to remind me." She hopped up and skipped over to behind his desk. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him on the head, "Thank you, Sweetie." She cooed.

She wandered onto the Cardiothoracic ward adorning her new navy scrubs. No one was at the main desk, she stood confused, scanning around the ward, where was everyone?  
"Tabster! What are you doing here?" The vibrant voice of Mo Effanga startled Tabby out of her puzzlement.  
"I'm joining you lot for a week, I'm looking forward to in-depth, hard-core, life-saving surgery, so I hope you guys won't disappoint me." Tabby grinned, she was so excited and couldn't wait to get up close to the action.  
"We most definitely won't."  
Tabby spun round to the sharp voice to spot the red-headed consultant, arms folded, staring her down, a look of pure determination, and slight insult, painted on her face.  
Tabby too stared her down, like a western dual scene, the air turned to an awkward frost.  
Zosia and Ollie had stopped on the other side of the desk to witness the showdown; they were both intrigued as to how the young new surgeon would handle the infamous, fiery Jac Naylor.  
Tabby tilted her head, "What have you got for me?" Her eyes never blinked nor did they leave the line of Naylor's stare.  
"Well…" She leaned over the counter and pulled up a massive pile of paperwork and files and plonked it on the top, "…There's a shit tonne of signing and filing to do, being ex-PA to the CEO you'll be proficient at it, the rest us have hard-core, life-saving surgery to be doing." She gave a sarcastic grin then stalked off.  
Tabby turned to the rest of the team she had sensed gather around her, "Believe it or not, we're actually really good friends." She smiled amused before heading towards the pile of a fire hazard and went to sit down in the circle of the staff station.

Despite enjoying the complicated and fast paced life of a doctor (surgeon) she also enjoyed taking some time to do the menial, office work. She was in her element, signing off forms and filing papers into patient files when suddenly something went 'bing'.  
She lifted her head, slowly spun her chair round and spotted on the monitor on the other side of the station something flashing orange on the screen. She pushed off with her feet and glided on the chair to the computer to take a closer look.  
 _Mrs Doreen Penne – Tricuspid Valve Replacement – 6hrs – No theatre slot.  
_ She picked up the mouse and double clicked on the patient's name. She read through the notes and pulled a face when there came a pointed cough from behind her. She spun in the chair ready to explain herself when she was surprised to see it was just Mr Valentine.  
"Isn't that Ms Naylor's patient?" The twinkle in his eye told her he was helping her out of a sticky situation if caught by the woman herself.  
"She's been here six hours and she hasn't even got a theatre slot booked in yet, like not for today or any other day. I know it's not an emergency but shouldn't we get her fixed and gone instead of her taking up a much needed bed?" She stared up to him ready for his argument.  
He sighed, "We need to keep her in for observation." He tried to explain.  
She squinted in bemusement, "She's come into hospital, you've "observed" that she has tricuspid regurgitation, and now she's on a cardio ward; perfect place for her to get what she needs. What else is there to observe? Why don't we do something about it?" She shook her head.  
"Maybe the leak is not that bad and we might be able to control it with meds." He shrugged.  
"She's on a cardiothoracic ward; that kind of says it needs more than meds. You know there's a problem, whilst she's here why don't we fix the problem and never have to see her again, _OR_ we can go with your plan, send her home with meds and in less than a month's time see her back in here from an ambulance with a bigger leak which we could have fixed permanently today without an emergency operation." She raised her eyebrow.  
Ollie sighed defeated, "Is this one of Hanssen's money saving schemes?"  
"No this is my fight for doctors to do their jobs properly. We're a garage for humans, and like a car if a human isn't fixed properly in the first place they get worse next time round. If you've got a hole on an exhaust and you stick a patch over it within a week the patch will break and you've got to take it back to get it fixed again, however if you completely replace the exhaust you shouldn't have to take it back for hopefully the rest of its life. Let's fix a human properly and hope we never have to see them again, patient by patient we shall have more bed space and less NHS crises."  
Ollie stared at her like she'd just given the 'I Have a Dream' speech.  
"You couldn't be more accurate Paper Girl. There's a slot at 2.30, book her in, get her consented." Jac gave a small smile which contained a ghost of admiration, before she headed off across the ward.

Tabby clicked around and booked her in for the theatre slot when a sharp pain shot through her abdomen. She winced and placed a hand to her stomach and when the pain dulled finally she glanced back to the screen to spot the reflection of a suit.  
"I hope you are still taking your tablets." He leaned and whispered into her ear before taking a seat in the chair next to her.  
"Yes Henrik, I'm still taking them." She rolled her eyes.  
"We'll have to have a review session about your prescription too, you've been on them a while now and I'd like to see if we can start lowering the dosage." He looked over the screen, "My my, Ms Naylor hasn't let you book a patient in already has she?"  
"2.30 – Tricuspid Valve Replacement. I'll have to ask her if I can observe." She said to herself more than Henrik.  
"Well good luck with that, you will have to prove your worth to Naylor before she'll let you in her theatre." Henrik warned.  
"Christ, tell me about it. She's got me on fucking desk duty all day." Tabby slumped back in her seat.  
Henrik glanced round to the mess of papers on the other desk, "A word of advice then, complete your task by 2.00 and you may be in with a chance." With a wise smirk he got to his feet and exited.

Tabby diligently got on with her paper based task, she thought she'd given most of this up by training to be a surgeon; either way, it needed to be done. Her time spent at the desk though was haunted by a dull throb in her stomach, she hadn't counted but surely she wasn't ready for her monthly yet. At last the final paper was slotted into a file and she plonked all the paperwork into one pile and sighed in relief, 1.30.  
"Ah, Mo." She spun in her chair towards the doctor who just entered the staff station, "You couldn't give me a quick hand could you?" She awkwardly wheeled herself over to Ms Effanga with her feet, holding a set of papers in her hand.  
"You're with one of Jac's patient's aren't you? No can do then I'm afraid. Unless the mess has anything to do with chocolate then I'd like to stay far away." She carried on clicking around on the computer.  
"I have to get a consent and I'm not quite sure how the procedure goes so I was hoping you could take Doreen through it, answer any questions she has, then you can bugger off before Jac gets back." Tabby looked up to her, hopeful.  
Mo made a final click and stood straight, turning to Tabby, "Alright, you're on. Do you want to do it now?"  
Tabby nodded, "We better had before Queen Bee gets back."  
"B'zz b'zz." Mo joked before leading the way to Mrs Penne.  
"Good afternoon, Mrs Penne, my names Dr Rees and this is Ms Effanga, she's going to talk you through your procedure so we can get your informed consent. Don't panic, when we describe most procedures they sound brutal but you shan't feel any pain during the procedure and it's all done to make you healthy again. If you have any questions feel free to pipe up and ask and as I tell every patient this is your decision we won't force you into anything you don't want to do, but we do highly recommend you go along with the procedure." Tabby smiled.  
"Where's the red-headed doctor? You know the brusque one. Isn't she the one doing my operation?" Doreen was confused.  
"Yes she is, I've just come to get your consent and Ms Effanga here is another Cardiothoracic surgeon who knows the procedure well and can describe it to you better than I can. Ms Naylor is currently with another patient." Tabby waited for Doreen's understanding nod and handed over to Mo to talk through the procedure.  
As Mo spoke her words became distant, Tabby was finding it difficult to keep her focus. An overwhelming sense of nausea passed through her, the dull throbs turned to sharp digs. She swallowed to control herself from heaving over her patient and took a couple of deep breaths. The pain finally dulled again and she came back into focus, _'Woah, that was trippy.'_ She thought.  
She was back just in time as Mo handed back to her for the consent.  
"So are we happy to proceed?" Tabby sounded slightly breathless.  
"We certainly are; what's there to lose?" Doreen grinned, for someone about to go under major heart surgery she seemed rather chipper, almost excited.  
"Excellent, if you could read through the small print then could you sign here, date here, and put a second signature on this page that would be great." Tabby handed over the clipboard when a sudden bonging on another bed started up.

"Miss Effanga!" The nurse calmly called over as Tabby and Mo jogged over.  
Mo laid the bed flat as Tabby took out a torch and checked the patient's pupils.  
"He's in VF." Mo started compressions.  
"Can I get a bag?" Tabby motioned for the nurse to hand over the mask.  
The two doctors continued CPR together as they waited for the crash trolley to be delivered. Mo placed on the pads whilst Tabby kept administering breaths.  
Mo tapped some buttons, "Right, charging 200, clear!"  
Tabby pulled away herself and the apparatus as the shock was delivered, _'Ow, what's wrong with me?'_ She winced before getting back in to pump some more breaths.  
"Charging again, clear!"  
Tabby pulled away again, _'I've never had them this bad before.'_ She dove in again.  
"Charging 250, clear!"  
Tabby pulled away again, the adrenaline of the moment kept her from doubling over but the pain made her dizzy.  
Finally they had a rhythm.  
Mo checked the patient's pupils again, "Mr Jacobs, glad to see you're back with us." She grinned, but as she looked up she spotted Tabby looked slightly dishevelled clutching her stomach, "You alright?"  
Tabby nodded silently.  
Mo wasn't convinced, "You wanna take a minute?"  
After a few seconds Tabby agreed, "Yeah." She puffed and made a bee line for the loos.  
"Ah Miss Rees, have you managed to get yourself in to observe-?"  
"Not now Henrik." She whizzed past the now bemused Mr Hanssen, who stood watching her scurry hurriedly down the corridor.

Once in she nearly didn't make it in to a cubicle before the gush of half-digested stomach contents projected out of her mouth. She coughed and heaved, throwing up more vomit when finally the nausea paused and she was left with blinding stomach pains. She caught her breath and realised the door behind her was still open, thankfully when she turned to lock it no one had followed her in.  
She knocked the toilet lid closed and perched herself on it, "It can't be, it can't be, it can't be." She whispered to herself. She took a deep a breath, "Well, it can wait, I've got surgery to observe and this can wait until afterwards." She huffed determinedly and flushed the loo before washing her hands and heading back out.

Frantically she searched through her bag in her office, finding her painkillers she snatched her bottle of water and swallowed a couple of the tablets. Finding her breath again she gasped when a firm knock sounded on her open door.  
"Are you OK?" His voice was concerned.  
"I'm Ok, just really bad cramps. Nothing I'm not used to though." Tabby smiled to her lover.  
He squinted in doubt, "Well, remember what I told you; don't overdo it." He gave a sympathetic nod and strolled away.  
Tabby shook her head and held her face in her hands, "You can't hide it for long, Tabs."

The pills were working perfectly as she almost skipped onto Darwin.  
"Good work, Paper Girl, turns out you have a use outside of the office after all." Jac held up the consent form.  
"Actually, Ms Naylor, I was wondering if I could observe Mrs Penne's operation, you promised me hard-core life-saving surgery today, you wouldn't let me down now would you?" Tabby winked.  
Jac smirked, "No I would not." She winked back; their old friendship hadn't diminished after all.  
Zosia on the other hand couldn't close her mouth, "And I work my arse off and suck up to every suit that walks in here and can't even get my hands on my own patient?"  
Ollie chuckled, "They have a mutual respect and trust of each other, however they also disrespect and distrust each other, despite that weird seesaw though they would put their lives in each other's hands with no question's asked." He seemed to stare into the distance as he described the two surgeon's friendship.  
Zosia reeled her head back in confusion, "How the hell can you work that out?"  
Ollie smiled, "You can't but you can see it, watch their next interaction, Tabby hates Jac because she throws her weight around, and Jac hates Tabby because of her connections up top, you can physically see the way they stay apart from each other and stare each other down, each on the defensive ready for what the other says next, yet they get on like they've been best friend's for years." Ollie picked up his files and headed off onto the ward, leaving Zosia to ponder his words.

Tabby couldn't keep her grin to herself as she sat at the computer researching the procedure.  
Adele finally found Mo and beckoned her over away from the staff station.  
"What is it?" Mo shook her head, she hoped this wasn't just staff gossip.  
"It's about Tabitha, I'm worried about her." Adele said hushed.  
"Ye, me too, she didn't seem right earlier on, but I don't think it's too much to worry about, it's probably just the crimson wave." Mo giggled slightly.  
"She was vomiting in the toilet." Adele suddenly broke the news.  
"So?" Mo shrugged.  
"I was in the cubicle next to her and she was just throwing up."  
"She probably just suffers really badly with it sometimes. Look at her now, she's fine, she's in her element, it was just a blip. Now I've got to take Mr Jacobs into theatre so I'll catch up with you later, over a bottle of Shiraz?" Mo looked to her sister waiting for her to admit defeat.  
"Fine." She sighed and headed off back to her work.

2.30. She pulled on her cap and tucked the stray hairs in.  
 _Throb._  
She ran her hands and forearms under the lukewarm stream of water, squeezing 3 big drops of the gloopy, brown scrub solution onto her hand and slathering it over the bare skin, rubbing it into her knuckles and between her fingers, twisting it over her arms.  
 _Throb.  
_ She picked up the nail brush and scrapped away under her nails, each nail individually and then quickly over them again.  
 _Throb.  
_ She rinsed off the lather and pumped more solution onto her hand, repeating her wash then took some paper towel and dabbed her hands and arms dry.  
 _Throb.  
_ The nurse pulled on her gown and tied it at the back. She inserted her hands in to the gloves and tucked the cuffs of her gown under them. She then placed a mask over her face and hooked it over her ears. She double checked her cap was OK and gave her the thumbs up.  
 _Throb.  
_ She turned to face Jac and the other surgeon, all matching in their theatre attire, their hands clasped in front of their chests, Jac smiled, "Ready for the hard-core stuff?" Her muffled voice revealed her excitement; even when you're a top notch surgeon having done thousands of operations over many years, you still couldn't get tired of saving a life.  
 _THROB!  
_ They turned and headed for the door into theatre, which was opened by one of the theatre staff inside. To Tabby it felt like someone had halved the speed of her life in that moment, dark room and bright theatre lights, turned to turquois backs moving further into the darkness, which then turned to shiny freckled grey floor, and with a sharp, uncontrollable thud, turned to black.


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry this took so long, it's been a busy few weeks stuck in work, I also had a bit of a block halfway through this. I'm glad you all like the fluff, I'll be sure to do more fluff :D. I hope you enjoy, and if you have any ideas please feel free to let me know what you want to read and I'll do my best to weave them in.

* * *

She timidly lowered herself onto the chair, placing her hands delicately onto her lap her surroundings told her she must be on her best behaviour.  
The concern on her face did not go unnoticed by the man sat across from her, but knowing what she was like he figured it was probably something fairly trivial. That was until she spoke.  
"What can I do for you?" He tried to hide his irritation.  
"It's about Dr Rees." She got straight to the point.  
Now she had his full attention, "What about her?"  
"I was in the toilet earlier on and she came in shortly after and I heard her throwing up in the cubicle next to me. Mo had also noticed something wasn't quite right with her, she reckons it's just her monthly. Now I know I shouldn't be getting so personal but if she's having stomach cramps and vomiting, it could be something more, I mean does she normally have such horrible pre-menstrual symptoms?" Adele's nursing streak kicked in as she decided to seek out whatever information she could to help her diagnosis.  
Henrik tightened his lips, "I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to divulge that information but from what you've told me I'm wondering if we share the same concern. What else happened in the toilets?"  
"Well that's all, she just threw up, but from her reaction it seemed she knew what was going on." Adele furrowed her brow, she wasn't sure any more what the problem could be, and Hanssen's eyes made her doubt whether what she heard actually happened.  
"Do you think she's diagnosed herself and is keeping it under wraps?" Henrik thought back to when he found her hurriedly searching for painkillers in her office, her explanation didn't sound smooth enough.  
"She whispered something about observing surgery; she probably doesn't want anyone to know in case they pull her out." Adele shrugged, that sounded the most likely to her.  
They both sat in silence for a moment, pondering what their course of action should be, when the sudden ring of the phone startled them.  
"Hanssen." He answered.  
Adele watched with growing fear as Henrik's face morphed into a look of serious worry.  
"I'll be there shortly." He slapped down the phone and took no hesitation to get up from his seat and head for the door.  
Adele shifted watching him as he walked around her, "What is it? What's happened?"  
Henrik didn't pause to explain, "Tabby's collapsed."

Henrik strode along swiftly, Adele jogging to keep up, and as they reached the foyer of the Darwin theatres they were greeted by the sight of the theatre team wheeling a thrashing Tabby on a bed into Theatre 2.  
"Mr Hanssen you're going to have to operate." Jac called over as she spotted them enter.  
Henrik looked confused, "I'm sorry?"  
"You're going to need to perform an emergency appendectomy; it's ruptured which is why she collapsed." She helped the team to keep the struggling young doctor from hurting herself in her pain.  
Henrik shook his head, "I can't I have an emotional connection to her."  
Jac huffed, "Well my patient is waiting on the table, Mo's in theatre, and I can't get hold of any other sodding person, you're the only one."  
Tabby's strangled whimpering's and howls grew in volume, she thrashed around as the pain became unbearable, the theatre team were struggling to keep her pinned down before she threw herself off the bed. Henrik couldn't bear to watch his beloved in such horrible torment, "Right, Nurse Effanga I want you to scrub in with me, you lot get her anaesthetised and we'll be in shortly."  
Jac gave a faint smile, "Good, take good care of her, Henrik." She wished him luck in her own weird way and let the other theatre team get her prepped.

"So we were right." Adele scrubbed in next to Henrik.  
"Unfortunately so." He sighed.  
Adele caught the absent, glazed look in his eyes as he stared at the soap dispenser; he was worried, very worried.  
He approached the table and glanced over to her peaceful, sleeping face, "I don't want any of your jokes in here now; I don't need any more kittens today." He smiled to himself sentimentally as he thought about what she would do just to take the mick, like cause a small bleed or some other minor complication just to make him panic.  
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He stood motionless as he meditated into his surgical zone. Finally…  
"Scalpel."  
…He made the first incision.

"Now Tabitha, I'll talk you through what I'm doing so you can hopefully take this in and perform it with perfection when it comes to your turn." He took a sly glance around the room, thankfully no one seemed to bat an eyelid at his weird decision to talk to his unconscious girlfriend he was currently slicing into, they probably didn't want to get a wrath off the boss, either that or they thought it was normal for him.  
He talked her through each step, explaining possible complications that could occur like she was stood opposite him studying the technique.  
"Staple." He stapled in the locations needed to prevent the blood flow between the caecum and the appendix and snipped between them, "Dish." He placed the now redundant organ in the dish and turned back to spot a bleed, "Damn it, Tabitha I thought I told you none of your games, not in here; the staples aren't holding, suction and saline please." He worked quickly on getting the bleed under control, "Right, 2-0 polyglactin. I'll ligate using sutures then I'll cauterize the mucosa; cautery pen please." A tiny trickle of smoke floated upwards, twisting and dancing in the surgical lights, leading up past a now beaming Henrik, "No more now, Tabitha, we're on the home straight. Saline please, and suction."

" _Save me, Henrik."…_

"Your conduct in theatre today was impeccable, I'm very impressed." He twisted on the tap and ran his hands and arms through the stream of warm water.  
"Thank you, Mr Hanssen." Adele smiled to herself though it held a tint of disbelief.  
"It's never easy operating on a fellow colleague."  
She sighed, "Especially when she's your other half." She twisted off her tap and turned to Henrik as he gave her a warning glance, "I don't mean to pry but you two make a gorgeous couple, and you saved her life today, she couldn't find a better boyfriend then you, Mr Hanssen." She gave a friendly wink and went to grab some paper towel to dry her hands.  
Henrik thought for a moment, he couldn't wait to take care of her post-op, but should their relationship be such a big deal at work, or should they keep it low key? Go back to not holding hands walking through the car park, or snuggling in the quiet corridors, or kissing in his office (or an empty lift ;) ). He flicked the droplets off his hands and dried them before heading out to wait for his lover to awaken.

' _Smells clinical. Feel sick. Bright light. Really feel sick. Soft pillow. Feel sleepy. Warm hand? Feel safe. Loud bleeping. Sounds healthy. That makes no sense. Don't care. What was that about the hand? Sod it, too sleepy. No Tabby no lie in's now, you're a surgeon. SURGEON! Shit Tabs you had surgery to observe, what was it? Oh well, fuck it, couldn't care still, back to sleep. Mitral… no, tricus… no, colocyst… not that either, appen… append… appendect…'  
_ A sudden gasp caused her to cough herself out of her induced slumber.  
"It's OK, you're OK, don't panic."  
She coughed up some more and caught her breath before stuttering out, "A-appendectomy, y-you operat-ated o-on me." She stared at the person who stooped at her bedside, concern lining their face, she had no conscious idea of who she was talking to, but she knew they were the ones who sliced her open, "You… *cough* you saved my life." She panted out. She stared for a few more moments when she suddenly furrowed her brow, "Henrik?"  
He narrowed his eyes as his gaze bored into hers.  
She grinned giddily, "You're my hero." She giggled wearily.  
Henrik blinked and stood up straight, he glanced at his hand hooked around her soft fingers, he rubbed his thumb over her knuckles and sighed, "I didn't operate on you, Jac did." He stated, squinting slightly as he gauged her response.  
She shook her head, "Mm-mm, I saw a prince, all 6 foot 4 of him, in turquoise armour, soft curly locks tucked neatly under a navy helmet, he wielded his sword with dextrous skill, with his valiant dark bay stead at his right side." She slurred out before she began to giggle even louder, but her dry throat caught her breath and she concluded with a cough. She gazed up towards Henrik; he had a knowing but confused glint in his eyes. She squeezed his hand, "Can I have some water, please?"

He obediently poured some water from the jug into a cup and placed a straw in it, he then guided the straw to her mouth, "Don't gulp it, small steady sips." He watched as she sucked at the straw, "So you had a dream about your surgery then?"  
She finished her last sip and released the straw, "No, I was there, I watched from above, like an angel, but that's the wrong way round, _you_ were my angel." Lethargically she lifted her hand to try to touch him but let it plonk back down beside her as her energy drained from it.  
Henrik stuck his tongue into his cheek and furrowed his brow, "Can you tell me anything that happened theatre?" He began to test her, taking hold of her hand.  
"Sorry, I'm sorry." She lowered her head, "I didn't mean to, it wasn't my fault was it?" Tears began to well in her eyes.  
"What was?" Henrik asked sympathetically.  
"You told me not to do it, but I didn't mean to." She shook her head as a tear trickled down her pale cheek.  
A smile began to pull at his lips, "What did I tell you?"  
"'None of my games' you said, the staples wouldn't hold, I panicked, but you held your cool." She gripped tighter at his hand, "I didn't want to die." Her bubble burst and she broke down.  
Henrik's heart ached for her, "You witnessed the entire procedure?"  
She nodded then sniffed in, controlling her sobs, "Look on the bright side, I could do that procedure with my eyes closed now." She smiled making light.  
"You had diagnosed yourself earlier that day hadn't you?" Henrik became serious.  
"I thought it would hold on for a while longer, I would have mentioned something sooner if it had been any worse before." She defended.  
"But you dosed yourself up on painkillers numbing the effect of the perforation." He argued.  
"You know it burned when you cauterized me." She mentioned, moving her hand from his and placing it on her stomach where she'd been operated on.  
Henrik sighed defeated, "Get some rest, I'll check up on you later." With no hesitation he stood and headed for the door but he paused and turned back to spot Tabby turn her head away and settled into a comfy position.

He eyed the dark, sterile room, like an owl, he took in his surroundings with not a single motion of his body. He turned and left just as silently as he had entered and made his way to a computer.  
As he read the webpage Mo peeked over his shoulder, " _Out of body experiences_? I didn't think you would entertain such spiritual ideas."  
Henrik carried on staring at the screen, "Sometimes it takes a stressful event to trigger unusual beliefs." He then glanced towards the side room where Tabby was, and before Mo could say another word he made a bee line for her.  
"Tabitha, what was on the wall directly in front of you in theatre?" He leaned over her, resting his fists on the bed beside her body.  
Tabby pulled herself up into a half seated position, "A clock." She stated simply.  
"What time was on it?"  
"Five to three."  
Henrik narrowed his eyes, "There was something new in the theatre, what was it?"  
"There were several new things, you've got new scrub trolleys, they're all shiny with extra shelves; and new drapes, they were blue instead of turquois." She explained.  
"How many people were in theatre?"  
"Five; you, Adele, Martin, Andrew, and Hilary."  
Henrik lifted himself off the bed suddenly, she could _name_ them?  
She lifted an eyebrow, "Still sceptical?"  
He shook his head, "No." He whispered.  
She reached her arms up for a hug but her face fell slightly when Henrik checked around him, "Henrik, why can't we just be a couple? Everybody knows of our relationship, there's no need to hide it anymore."  
He scrunched his face in self debate and finally decided to take her into his arms.  
It was a warm and soothing embrace in which Tabby could finally breathe a sigh of relief, she was scared when she collapsed, she was worried she might have left it too late, that no-one would be able to save her. She was thankful to watch her hero operating on her but then she worried he would be angry with her. Now this hug showed her that she needn't worry any more, he wasn't angry with her, and she was alive and well.  
"I'm so sorry I did this, thank you so much for saving me." She nibbled his ear lightly.  
He took in a breath, "I'm just thankful you're safe." He pulled her in tighter.  
She swallowed, "Kiss me, Henrik." She whispered.  
As he pulled out her breath caught, was he going to refuse?  
She bitten her lip and with begging eyes she timidly repeated her demand, "Kiss me."

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PS: I apologise if any of you are disappointed, lol (No Tanrik/Hebby/Whatever baby on the way I'm afraid, not yet at least ;) )


	7. Chapter 7

No offence but it's kind of funny to hear your frustration when I'm slow updating: "IIIIII WAAAAAANT MOOOOORE!" (Or words to that effect :P) but I must apologise and I hope I'm still delivering the goods, thank you for your reviews and your loyalty, it's nice to know you're still reading and enjoying and it keeps me writing.

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Without a second thought he lurched towards her, his lips crashed against hers. Tabitha gasped at the sudden impact, shortly melting into the passionate gesture that she requested. Henrik's hands moulded around her head, his fingers intertwining through her short, brown locks. Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, pulling him in tighter into the loving embrace.

"Aww, now that's what I'm talking about, nice one Mr H." Adele smiled as she spotted the couple through the window from the staff station.  
Mo turned to Ollie and rolled her eyes.  
Jac lifted her head from the computer and witnessed what the nurse was on about, "Uch, that is one scene I did not want burnt into my memory." She grimaced.  
"That's alright, my dad can sort that out for you; you won't remember a thing." Zosia piled up a few folders, grinning.  
"I'd rather have Mr Ed chew through to my hypothalamus than have Guy Self drill anywhere near my skull." Jac retorted; but as everybody left to carry on with their jobs she couldn't help herself to carry on gazing into the side room, _'I definitely don't see him in the same light anymore.'_ She thought to herself.

Henrik lifted himself from his perch on her bed, "Now you get some rest, I've got a patient meeting to be at, and I will return as soon as I'm finished." He cupped her hand and gently pressed his lips against her delicate fingers, "I promise." He whispered.  
Tabby shook her head, "Go, the more you hang around the less sleep I can get." She commanded, giving him a playful wink.  
He smirked and gave a nod, "I'll see you later."

His slender fingers slid down the plastic casing, braking as they met the rubber grip, they followed the tapered end to touch upon the horizontal wooden surface on which the object was resting. Suddenly they lift, his grip loosened and the plastic spun between his soft fingertips, the object landed against the wood again, this time with the squishy rubber end at its base, and his fingers repeated their journey towards the bottom again.  
His eyes were glazed as he stared absently towards the grey, empty space on the desk; he kept twizzling his pen between his fingers and began to nuzzle his index finger as he rested it against his lips.  
"Mr Hanssen?"  
With a sharp intake of air he began his improvisation, "I do believe it would benefit the patient in terms of recovery time, however, I think sticking to conventional methods would prove the safest option, given the patient's complications."  
"Right, yes, then that will be the plan of action. Thank you very much for your time everyone…" Mr Levy finished up as he began to collect up the patient notes but halted as he watched Mr Hanssen silently rise from his seat and, without a word, exit, "Did I say something?" Puzzled, he turned to Essie for an answer.  
"I take you haven't heard then." She raised an eyebrow.  
"Heard what?"  
"Tabby's fallen ill, she collapsed earlier today with an appendicitis, Hanssen had to operate on her." She explained sympathetically.  
"Is she alright?" Sacha was concerned.  
"Yes she's recovering on Darwin, but it explains his vacant expression for the entire meeting, he must be so worried."  
"And there I was thinking I was on the wrong track the entire time. Gosh, I hope she's better soon." He glanced to his partner and on spotting her slightly saddened look he brought her into a cuddle.

"I see the craze of adult colouring has captured you already." He smiled as he strolled in to the side room.  
"Nurse Martinez is starting on Darwin tomorrow, so she came up after her shift to get a feel for things before she starts, spotting me in here caught her off guard, I thought gossip spread like wild fire in this place?" She gave a cheeky grin, her eyes following her lover as he made his way to her bed side.  
He took a peak over her lap to spot the intricate doodle now half coloured with bright fine liners, "Very pretty." He commented.  
"Thanks, tired hands though, can't keep in the lines, I'm too shaky." She gave an amused frown as she pointed out her scribbles.  
"Ah, never mind." He smiled before turning to check her monitor, "How's everything inside?" He scanned over the numbers.  
"Everything's fine, my BP's a little high but it's no biggie." She shrugged, but she didn't sound overly convinced.  
"You've had a fright, it's to be expected." He nodded, satisfied, but he heard a deep sigh from behind him and a small flash on the screen caught his attention. A buzz and a crackle began to sound from Tabby followed by some bleeps. He narrowed his eyes as he watched the readings, "Are you alright?" He asked concerned witnessing the new number.  
"I'm OK." Came the slightly breathless reply.  
He spun round to her, "You're hypertensive and your pulse has risen to 120bpm, what's the matter? Any pain?" His tone was serious as he leaned over, his knuckles rested beside her on the bed.  
She gazed up to him, her eyes full of fear and dread, "I don't want to die." She wobbled out.  
"Right." Henrik pushed himself up off the bed and reached above her, plugging some things in and flicking some switches on the wall behind, then he trailed a tube around from behind her and stretched some elastic over her head.  
It was suddenly cool and fresh around her face.  
"Take a deep breath now, Tabitha." Henrik stooped down again and stared, making sure she complied with his advice.  
She took a stuttering inhale.  
"Good, now slowly out."  
She pursed her lips and let her breath slip out, her exhale interrupted by her hyperventilating inhales.  
"Nice, slow, deep, breath again." His eyelids floated shut, his voice was quiet and calm, he began to trickle his fingers up and down Tabby's arm, drumming gently against her skin.  
Tabby's breathing slowed, and as Henrik felt her start to relax he turned to glance at the monitor, her heart rate was slowing too. He tapped a few buttons and once again the buzz and crackle sounded from Tabby's arm. He took a glance at the reading and smiled.

"Tabitha, you've just had panic attack." He informed.  
She nodded, her eyes tightly shut she was still concentrating on her breathing.  
He watched as the mask on her face went cloudy, then defogged, repeatedly. That's when Tabby burst into tears. She held out her arms, reaching for her rock, her saviour came to her rescue and took her into a warm embrace.  
"You're safe, Tabby, I've got you, you're safe." He whispered soothingly.

They all halted their actions and stared. His strides were long, his steps determined, he didn't waver from his straight path towards the central desk. Ignoring everyone's looks, he leaned over the desk and picked up the phone and as calm as could be typed in a number.  
"Come on, get back to work, it's none of our business." Mo ushered Ollie and Zosia back to their patients, giving a concerned look towards Jac who sat in the staff station next to where Hanssen made his call…

' _What?'_ As she listened her eyes widened slightly, she glanced into the side room to spot Tabitha sat up in bed with the oxygen mask covering her face.  
He ended the phone call and caught Jac's worried look.  
A quiet, pointed cough from his direction pulled her attention to him.  
"She's alright, don't worry yourself." He winked before heading back towards his lover.  
 _'How could he tell I was worried?'_

He pushed a lock of hair out of her face. His eyes glided over her soft, delicate features; her pale, smooth cheeks, her slender nose, her plush lips, before settling on her glistening grey eyes.

Mo meanwhile was updating some patient notes on the computer at the staff station when an unfamiliar face approached her.  
"Hi, my name's Dr Adam Higgins, I'm here for a psych consult for a Tabitha Rees?" He checked his notes to confirm the name.  
Mo scrunched her face, "Psych consult?"  
"Yes, our lord and master Mr Hanssen called me down."  
Mo's expression morphed into one of pity, "Yeah, she's just through here." She sighed as she pointed him to the side room.  
*Knock knock*  
"Mr Hanssen, it's Mr Higgins for Tabitha." Mo explained as she held the door open for the psychologist.  
"Is that Tabby's psych consult?" Jac asked, pushing her hands into her trouser pockets.  
"Yeah, did you know?" Mo affirmed.  
"Henrik said she'd had a panic attack not long ago, bless her, if it's not one thing it's another." She stated gloomily.  
Mo looked back into the room, she smiled as she caught them all having a chuckle together, _'Despite the façade's we wear, and the smiles we portray, there are always demons somewhere in there.'_


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry for the wait, a bit of writer's block (I know where I want to go I just sometimes struggle on how to get there). I have no schedule for this I'm afraid, my shift patterns to be erratic and ever changing so it's difficult to schedule in times to write, also I find myself on times staring at a blank screen with nothing coming to my head, so my best advice is to perhaps follow the story and wait for alerts, I hope you still look forward to reading new chapters though, despite the wait. (Additional comments below.)

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"Tabitha, I'd like to ask you a few questions, if that's ok with you?" He tilted his head and gave a friendly smile.  
Tabby reached beside her and took a hold of Henrik's suit sleeve, "Why is he here?" She asked quietly like the man at the end of her bed was just a hologram.  
"He's just conducting a basic review of your mental health." Henrik explained plainly.  
"Well can you tell him to piss off then because there's nothing wrong with my mental health." She let go of Henrik's sleeve and grabbed the end of the covers, sharply pulling them further over her and turning her head away like a spoilt child.  
The psychologist gave an amused chuckle.  
Henrik sighed, "Tabitha, we're just concerned-"  
"I'm fine." She spat. Her eyes then glided to the end of her bed where the new face was sat, "Do you think I'm crazy?"  
His typical psychologist cheesy, 'caring' smile returned, "Well I haven't got to know you enough yet to figure that one out, but aren't we all?" He shrugged.  
Tabitha thought for a moment, typical scripted answer, "Piss off." She turned away again.  
He gave a playful huff, "OK, how about I come back tomorrow, do you think you'll chat with me then?"  
"Unlikely." She muttered.  
"Tabitha." Henrik warned.  
Adam smiled, "That's ok, it can take some time to trust someone new, I understand. Hopefully we can try again soon. Mr Hanssen, would you mind if I had a quick word with you?" He motioned to the door.  
"Of course, I won't be a minute, Tabby." He rose from his seat and headed for the door.  
Adam stopped and turned back to Tabitha, "See you soon, Tabitha."  
"Mm." She turned her head the other way away from him.  
He decided it was best to leave her and followed Henrik out, "I won't come by tomorrow, she's had a stressful day and my appearance was unwelcome. For the moment I don't see a problem, she's a very independent woman, but she needs your support, there's a definite pull for you from her.  
"With regards to her anxiety, just monitor her for now; treat the panic attacks if and as and when they come, they could purely be after shock from her trauma. I'll return in a few days when she's recovered a bit more." He shook Henrik's hand.  
"Thank you very much for your time."  
Henrik quietly returned through the door to spot a sour face staring him down.  
"You sent a shrink?" Her voice was quiet.  
He bit his lip, "I did." He affirmed.  
She sighed, "I going to sleep." And without another word she buried herself under the covers and closed her eyes.

The next few days Henrik pulled away from his duties to be with his love. Panic attack followed panic attack but nothing more was mentioned of Dr Higgins. But Henrik began to notice a pattern, there were similar things that happened or talked about just before an attack, it was exacerbated by certain events during an episode, and there were several different phrases she would repeat in each episode.  
Finally he returned.  
He entered with his 'shrink-grin', "Hello, Tabitha, how are you feeling?"  
"Oh great, it's you again." She feigned her pleasant greeting.  
"It is I'm afraid." He grimaced in jest.  
"Tell you what then, if you have to be here let's just get it over and done with, no pre-talk chat, no getting to know each other or getting comfortable with each other, just ask your questions, get your answers, then bugger off back to "happy land" to do your analysis." She huffed and folded her arms.  
Adam squinted, "You're not a happy person are you?" He commented.  
"Does that surprise you? I'm stuck in a hospital bed having had an organ explode inside me because I was stupid enough to wait that long when I had diagnosed myself hours before, and I still missed the TVR I was supposed to observe." She rolled her eyes.  
"I feel I'm getting to know you better already." Adam pulled a chair beside her bed and sat gently, "Now, Tabitha, Mr Hanssen has in fact told me a little about your behaviour recently, I'm just here to confirm his thoughts, so to start I'd like to do some word links; I'm going to say a word and you're going to say the first thing that enters your head. Now if you'll please, get yourself comfy and close your eyes…" Adam proceeded to put Tabby into a relaxed, hypnotic state before beginning his questions.  
The answers began to flood out of her with no thought, her word link answers went from being rather factual (Cat = Mouse) to being rather heartfelt (Cat = Friend). Adam decided it was time to introduce words related to his diagnosis.  
"Reception."  
"Helpful."  
"Nurse."  
There was a pause, her answers were coming immediately but this time she stopped. Adam's eye was caught by a flash on the screen beside him, her pulse had increased.  
"Medication." She finally stated, although her voice held hesitation.  
"Hospital." He carried on.  
"Illness." The time between the word and her answer was becoming longer.  
"X-ray." He watched as her brow furrowed.  
"No hiding."  
He tilted his head, interesting answer.  
"Surgeon."  
"Life saver." Her voice wobbled slightly.  
"Theatre."  
"Death." She whispered.  
All of a sudden she shot out of her trance and began pulling the sheets off her.  
The machine beeped and flashed a new number, it was high.  
"I need to go, I need to go quickly." She fumbled with the wires on her.  
Henrik bolted towards her as Adam got to his feet to help out.  
"Tabitha, stop." Henrik's voice was firm.  
Tabby stopped what she was doing and tried to breathe, but her breaths were sharp, and shallow, "I n-need to g-go outside." She stuttered.  
"OK we'll go outside, but first I need you to breathe nice deep, calm breaths, can you do that?" Henrik held her by her shoulders and crouched slightly to her height.  
Tabby shook her head, "No." She whimpered.  
"Yes you can, do it with me, breathe in." He inhaled as Tabby copied, "That's it and now out." Tabby's breathing was soon under control and Henrik brought her a wheel chair and helped her in. The three doctors then headed for the Peace Garden.

They sat in silence, the gentle breeze through the trees and bushes, the traffic from the main road, the sirens from the ambulances, all strangely calming. Tabitha stared at her feet, pulling at the sleeves of the staff hoodie she was wearing, "Sorry." She muttered.  
Adam gave a contented sigh, shifting his position, "Don't be, that's actually really helped my diagnosis."  
"I'm mad as hatter in box with frogs, right?"  
Adam shook his head, "No. But your condition does make me laugh a little." He glanced to check her reaction.  
"I'm a doctor with a fear of medical things." She gave an amused smirk, "I've always been a bit backward though."  
"I'm glad you can see the funny side of it." Adam smiled, he liked the laid back patients, the ones that sit there and say 'I have a problem, let's deal with it.'  
"So, what's next, we've figured out I'm a hypochondriac, where do we go now?" Tabby reached for Henrik's hand, she may be strong but right now she was a nervous wreck that didn't know where the world was taking her next.  
Adam drew in a breath, "Mr Hanssen informed me you have a history of nervous behaviour, you get the shakes under stress, episodes of anxiety that result in hyperventilating and occasionally fainting. Right now, considering how few and far between these events are, my prescription would be a couple of talk sessions with me, either on a weekly or fortnightly basis. How does that sound?"  
Tabby nodded, "An hour ago I'd have told you, in a fairly derogatory fashion, where the door was, but now your idea doesn't seem so bad."  
That's when Henrik shifted, "And would you say these lesions are related to her new diagnosis?" He pulled down the shoulder of her hoodie and gown and revealed a number of spots on her shoulders and neck.  
Tabby suddenly froze, "W-what are they?" She held her breath.  
Adam took a quick peek, "Stress spots, psychosomatic, nothing to worry about." He smiled.  
Tabby however didn't seem convinced.

Once back on the ward Henrik helped to settle Tabby back into bed.  
"Mr Hanssen, may I have a word, please?" Adam pointed his head for them to talk out of the room.  
"I won't be long." He stroked Tabby's head softly then left to join Adam outside.  
The recovering young doctor pulled down the shoulder of her gown and craned her head to see her new friends growing on her skin. She glanced over to the window and almost on auto-pilot, swung her legs off the edge of the bed, her soft feet touching down on the cold laminate, she then shuffled along, grasping the window ledge for support as her stomach felt tight and her head began to spin.

"I don't think she's in much trouble, she appeared to take her diagnosis like a bug on a windscreen, she's just going to flick the wipers on and carry on down the road; I'm just going to be her wiper blade." Adam explained.  
Henrik nodded, "That sounds like Tabitha, so you don't believe she'll need medication?"  
"Absolutely not, she just needs someone to give her the mental tools to cope when things get tough, and can I say, Mr Hanssen, you are the biggest and best tool she has at the moment, she's very much smitten with you." He winked.  
Henrik tittered awkwardly, "Thank you."  
"And can I say I think we need to check on the young Dr Rees?" Nurse Martinez pointed through the window of the doors.  
The CEO and the psychologist both turned to spot a flustered Tabby messily ripping into a medical packet next to the equipment trolley. Henrik squinted and once he spotted what was in the packet he flew through the doors.

She had finally released the object and now, slowly but shakily, moved the scalpel up towards her shoulder, lining it up underneath one of her spots.  
Both Adam and Henrik were frozen by the doorway, however Cara gingerly tip toed over to the young doctor, "Tabitha?"  
Tabby gasped and pulled away from the voice.  
"It's OK, it's only me. What are you doing?" She feigned ignorance to what Tabby was up to.  
She suddenly pulled the knife away from her shoulder, "Oh, um, nothing, I just thought I'd have a practice whilst I've got nothing else to do in bed." She giggled awkwardly; if Cara believed that then may Tabby be granted sainthood.  
Cara grimaced softly, "That's not the real reason is it, Tabby?"  
Tabby bit her lip, "I have to do it; if I don't it will infect my body." She whispered.  
"Do what?" The nurse tilted her head.  
"I've got it haven't I? You won't tell me straight, not yet, but I've got cancer haven't I?" Her eyes began to well.  
Cara's face morphed into a look of sympathy, "Now Tabby, who told you that?" Her voice was soft and caring.

Henrik strolled in behind, "Tabitha, it's an anxiety spot, _not_ a carcinoma, you have _not_ got cancer." Despite his still demeanour, the ever so slight wobble in his voice revealed his worry.  
Tabby stared at him, her eyes wide and streaming with tears, her breath coming thick and fast, she too had noticed the unusual sound of his voice, "Are you sure?"  
Henrik chuckled lightly, "I am a physician as well remember."  
Tabby's fingers finally released. The scalpel hit the blue floor with a ting, a sound which was oddly relieving to everybody in the room.  
Without hesitating Henrik tightly wrapped his arms around the shivering young girl, "You're so silly." He blurted.  
Tabby clutched the back of his suit jacket as she sobbed into his chest.  
Both Adam and Cara hadn't moved; they watched in relief as the couple clung to each other as if they would never let go. That's when Cara spotted something glistening down Henrik's cheek. Her heart ached, never did she think she'd ever witness Henrik cry, and now she's the first, and probably the last, member of Holby staff to watch the scene unfold in front of her.

"I'm going to put her on a course of anti-anxiety drugs, I'll also set her up for weekly cognitive therapy and REBT sessions." Adam shook his head, "Well I never saw that coming."  
Cara placed a hand on Adam's arm, "I don't think any of us did. It's amazing how the mind can fool us in such ways."  
Adam tittered, "I'm still learning that too, she just seemed so grounded." He hung his head.  
"That doesn't mean you're any worse at doing your job, not even I realised she would be capable of doing that." Henrik reassured.  
"Thank you, I'll go and sort out her prescription and we'll set some dates and times for her therapy sessions." Adam shook Henrik's hand and headed down the corridor.  
Henrik stared in through the window; Tabby rocked herself back and forth as she chatted perkily to the nurse hooking her back up to the monitor. He narrowed his eyes; did he cause that to happen? Should he have kept shtum about her spots? How could he help her now?  
"Just keep doing what you're doing, Mr Hanssen, that's all she needs and I reckon that's all she wants." Cara gazed up at her boss with a hesitant, friendly smile, not knowing if she'd overstepped her boundary she swiftly left him to it.

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EDIT: This chapter has been edited. To one of my guest reviewers: I wasn't sure whether you meant good ridiculous or bad ridiculous so I took it as a comment to the amount of drama this section had (Too much drama for one person in one section, I quite agree), I have been running Tabby through the mill a bit and your comment made me review how ridiculous the end of this chapter was.  
I hope I've toned it down slightly but thank you for your review; it's comments like yours that help me think more about what I've written and where I've possibly been going wrong.

Don't worry about nagging, that's what reminds me to continue writing :P.  
I'm so glad I've made your day, I'm sorry to hear you had a bad one, I hope I keep making everybody's day with my updates.  
Hmm, good idea, that'll get the "creative" juices flowing XD


	9. Chapter 9

A little filler to lighten the mood and smooth what would be a choppy turn for a new section. (Disclaimer: later comments in this chapter do not state my personal feelings and should be taken as humour, no offence meant whatsoever. You'll know what I mean when you get there ;P). Enjoy!

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Tabby chomped contentedly on her cornflakes, occasionally sipping her coffee, then nibbling a cashew nut.  
"I'll get you the data sheet for AAU before you go then today I'll sort out the figures for Darwin." She spoke between bites.  
"Yes, thank you." Henrik acknowledged as he reached into the cupboard for a box.  
"I'm going to carry on colouring my kingfisher today too." She beamed proudly, "Then I'll give you a ring at four o'clock again." She took another sip of coffee but paused when a packet was placed next to her. She stared at the foil as she placed down her cup.  
"Today is…?"  
"Tuesday." She sighed.  
He pointedly tapped the blister pack where her Tuesday tablet was still tucked away behind the unbroken foil, "I know you don't like taking them but they do help." He warned before pulling out a chair and sitting down for breakfast, "There's another task on your list for today as well, isn't there?" He glanced up to see her furrow her brow as she popped in the tablet and swallowed with her coffee, "You're meeting up with someone aren't you?" He prompted.  
Tabby rolled her eyes, "Adam. I know, I haven't forgotten." She lowered her face, "I just don't want to make a big deal out of it, that's all." She mumbled.  
"I'm not making a deal out of it, I'm simply reminding you. Where are you going today?" He tucked into his toast.  
She shrugged, "Same as last week I think."  
"Coffee shop?"  
She leaned back in her chair, "He says I seem to open up more there, less distractions."  
"Fewer." He corrected.  
"I'm Welsh." She defended sarcastically, she plonked down her spoon and rose from her seat, "I'll go and get ready for my hot date then." She teased, picking up her crockery and heading for the sink.

Tabby's REBT sessions were going smoothly; Adam had decided to take her out away from the hospital to make sure she wasn't stressed by her surroundings, what with them being medical and also being her workplace. They had been out for a pub lunch, visited museums and galleries, went for walks in parks, gone for coffee, he'd even taken her shopping, and once when it was very wet he came over to Henrik's. Today however he had a plan…  
"Where do you live, Tabitha?" Adam asked as she shut the door of his car.  
"Why do you ask?" She shoved her bag in the foot-well and reached for her seatbelt.  
"I'd like to see your place, build more of a personality profile, how you live, your décor, things you keep, items you display, items you might hide away." He explained.  
"As long as it helps my treatment plan I'll tell you the way." She agreed.

Adam followed her through the door and immediately began to look around.  
"I haven't lived here for a while because I've been away on a course; I also spend most of my time at Henrik's, it's easier to stay at his since he drives me to and from work. I've visited a few times, made sure the place hasn't burned down or sprung a leak, or been burgled." She admitted as she hung her bag and coat up.  
Adam meanwhile was admiring some pictures on the wall, "Who's this?" He pointed.  
Tabby returned to where he was standing and looked at the picture, "That's Erin; she's my friend and housemate. She's currently away at university, we text each other occasionally but she's been busy with exams recently so I haven't heard from her in a bit. Tea or coffee?" She glided into the kitchen.  
"Coffee please." He stated absently as he strolled around the rooms, examining her home.  
Adam found with Tabby the best way to get her to talk was to have a casual chat, if his questions were hidden in absent conversation she didn't realise she was being interviewed and therefore just spoke. He found out a lot more about her through these conversations than if he asked specific questions.

*Knock knock*  
"Yes. Ah, Ms Campbell, what can I do for you?"  
"I bear a gift from a certain nephew, he wanted to apologise for taking up your time yesterday." Serena handed over the homemade card.  
Henrik opened it and gave a small chuckle; stuck on the front was a print out of the selfie Jason took of them wearing surgical caps and masks (Jason had formed an obsession with taking selfies with people), then inside was adorned with cut outs of bandages and drawings of emergency crosses, the star of life, and the Holby ambulance logo. There was then a selfie of Jason with a plaster stuck over it with the words ' _Sorry for being a pain!'_ written underneath.  
Henrik smiled, "Very sweet." He commented, placing the card delicately on his desk.  
"And, how's Miss Rees getting on?" Serena enquired with a look of concern.  
"Very well I believe, Mr Higgins has said she's on a definite road to recovery."  
"And she's taking her meds?" She checked.  
"I'm making sure of it." He assured with a nod.  
"Glad to hear it, well tell her I can't wait to see her back in her scrubs here. Thank you, Mr Hanssen." She smiled and exited.  
Henrik sighed, she had certainly had it rough recently; his life just seemed to become 10 times more erratic when he met Tabby.

"Tabitha?" Henrik called as he closed the door behind him.  
"I'm in here." Came the faint reply from the kitchen.  
After hanging his coat and placing down his briefcase he followed the fragrant scent of minestrone, as he reached the door there came an after smell of something sweet. On opening the door a mix of olfactory stimulants hit him, the mouth-watering scent of bread warming in the oven; vegetables, stock, and spices carried on the steam drifting from the pot on the hob; then a smell of cooked sugar, raisins, and lemon from a loaf sat on a cooling tray at the end of the counter.  
Henrik raised his eyebrows, "Someone's been busy." He strolled over to his partner stood at the cooker.  
Tabby suddenly turned to him, "Henrik, I've been so bored. I'm sick of this." She huffed.  
"But you've been out today haven't you? With Adam?"  
"Yep, we went round to my bungalow, to "build a personal profile", AKA sit around and drink coffee all morning." She rolled her eyes, "Then I came home, had another coffee, sat and watched telly, well there was sod all on so I got busy in here."  
"So you're hocked up on caffeine then?" He commented with a lilt of amusement.  
"I've made Minestrone soup with warm crusty bread; and that over there is a lemon teisen lap. Anyway, this is just about ready to serve, how was your day?" She opened the cupboard and reached in for some bowls.  
Henrik went to set up the table but realising it was already done he just straightened and smoothed the table cloth, "Attended a couple of meetings this morning, then carried on with some paperwork in my office." He sighed, in fact he hadn't got that much paperwork done, he hadn't done for weeks now, his mind was constantly on Tabby. He was brought round from his thoughts as two bowls of piping hot soup were placed on the table.

They slurped and munched away in a comfortable silence, when Tabby suddenly paused.  
Henrik looked up from his bowl, "Everything alright?"  
She bit her lip, "I went crazy didn't I?" She looked to Henrik to spot his confusion, "That day Adam first had his consult with me?"  
Henrik placed down his spoon, "You took a scalpel to yourself claiming you had cancer."  
She shoved her face into her hands, "God, I'm so stupid."  
Henrik couldn't help but smirk amusedly, "I see the treatment plan is working then?"  
"What possessed me?" She shook her head.  
"Shock, trauma, stress, your underlying anxiety." Henrik listed.  
"Was I really bad?" She grimaced.  
Henrik picked his spoon up and continued eating, "Well, Higgins upgraded your treatment plan there and then. I think it shocked us all, but the mind can do very odd things under stress."  
Watching him carry on with his food Tabby realised he probably wanted to drop the subject, for both their sakes, "Grab my book from the end there." She pointed, "I finished my kingfisher."

"That goes in there, and that in there. Why did I even think this was a good idea? I'm just taking things out then putting them back in, it's tidy already, you should have known that Tabs." Tabitha muttered to herself.  
"Of course it is, I highly doubt he'd have a problem with that, and if he did then he'd have me to answer to… Very well, we'll just have to wait and see… Thank you." He ended the call on his mobile as he reached his office. Clicking about on it as he entered it was only the strange sound of huffing and banging that distracted his attention. Cautiously he treaded towards his desk and peaked over.  
He rolled his eyes, "Tabitha." He blurted authoritatively.  
"Ouch." She gasped as she bumped her head on the desk in a panic. Henrik's stern glare told her what she already knew.  
"What are you doing here?" He blinked awaiting her excuse.  
"I came to tidy your already spotless office." She got to her feet, "It was more boring than sitting in the house drinking coffee to be honest." She mumbled.  
"Then why didn't you stay at home, where, may I remind you, you're supposed to be?"  
"I thought I had already gone mad, I found myself having opinions on the topics of Loose Women, turns out there's a whole other realm of psychosis." She stood akimbo, leaning on his desk, "Well, there you go, tidy office now tidy." She presented the unchanged shelves.  
"Thank you." He nodded unamused, "Are you going home now?"  
"Nope."  
"Very well then." He then strode around the desk to his seat and continued on like the conversation just now had never happened.  
After a few more minutes of silence Tabby spoke up, "Ok, I'll admit it, I was actually hoping for some of that fancy hot chocolate, what with me technically being ill and all that." She side glanced him for his reaction.  
"Well do you want some?" He offered like all she had to do was ask.  
"No, no, I'm taking the piss." She giggled, "Henrik, when can I come back work?"  
He sighed and gazed up to her almost exasperated.  
"Please?" She begged.  
Her pleading puppy eyes always worked on him, "I'll see what I can do." And without another word he got to his feet and headed for the door.  
Tabby just watched in puzzlement.  
"Vinter Nojena?" He asked knowingly when he got to the door.


	10. Chapter 10 - Hello Again

Sorry, I was just testing to see how long I could go without uploading before you all started lobbing virtual tomatoes at my inbox :P just kidding, no excuse I just haven't looked at it, my bad. I hope you all enjoy this new section, I've included some suggestions from you, thank you for reading and reviewing, enjoy!

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"Look straight at me." Tabby stared into her patient's gaze and moved her tiny torch in front of their eyes, "Good, and keep looking." She swapped hands and examined the other eye, "Good, now raise your hands above your head and wiggle your fingers." She demonstrated the movement she wanted as her patient copied, "Excellent, your pupils are reacting normally and you can still look like an idiot." She joked, chuckling with her patient as she jotted down some notes in the file, she then closed it and slipped it back into its holder at the foot of the bed, "Staff nurse Erika will run the rest of your post-op checks, meanwhile I'll head off and sort your prescription and discharge forms and you'll be good to go." She grinned giving the Asian nurse the go ahead to carry on.

Tabby gave a sigh as she wandered back to the nurse's station; it was back to the old grind, back on placid Keller, back to doing what she was actually good at: electives and general practice. Although Darwin held the fun and excitement of life or death, the fast pace of emergencies and trauma, it held a little too much excitement for Tabitha it seemed, unleashing most of it on her first day there. Nope, the tranquil scene of life on Keller was much more up her street; unusual cases to get her detective head on; simple procedures that gave her the freedom to wield a scalpel without too much stress or senior team members looming over her every incision, cut, and stitch; patients that aren't necessarily on death row; interesting conversations; friendly colleagues; time; practice; repose. This was her ward.  
She tapped her hands onto the desk and smiled at the nurse sat at the computer, "May you please grab me a discharge form and clipboard and could you also print off Mr Goodwin's prescription please?"  
"I've also written up his post-op nutrition plan, if you want to go through that as well?"  
Tabby furrowed her brow, that voice. Without turning round she rolled her eyes, "Well, well, well." She side glanced to the source of the familiar voice, "When did you get out?"  
"Whizzed through my finals last month, they finally released me last week and now here I am."  
Tabby received the clipboard and turned to the woman who handed her another sheet, "I've missed you." She smiled coyly.  
"You wuss." She gently clobbered poor Tabby around the head with a patient file.  
Giggling they both strolled back towards their patient, "So what made you apply to work in this dump?"  
"I don't know, a birdy told me there are some vixens here that need taming, I thought I'd join the pack and howl to the moon, aow, aow, aaaaaaaooooowwwwww." She mimicked the canine animal.  
Tabby shook her head, "What are you on about?"  
"One Bernie Wolfe? How could you not know who I was on about?"  
"Never met the woman." She shrugged.  
"You're kidding me." She tutted.  
"Why are you in a nurse's uniform? Didn't have any scrubs left did they? So typical of this place." She sighed.  
Before she could answer a tall, handsome, sexy, devious, stoic, pussy cat prowled onto the ward, "Ah, I see you've met our new Nutritional and Dietary Specialist Nurse." He gave Tabby a knowing smirk.  
"Nurse?!" Tabby turned to her old friend, shocked.  
Erin held her hand up, "Guilty." She giggled.  
Tabby held her mouth agape, "What happened to surgery?"  
"I fucked it up I'm afraid." She seemed oddly proud of this.  
"Fucked it up." Tabby repeated puzzled.  
"I failed my exams, retrained in nursing, then specialised in nutrition and diet, and a little bit of herbal medicine." She winked. She couldn't help but giggle at Tabby's stunned face, "I believe that if we can understand a patient's diet it could lead us to a more accurate diagnosis faster and also provide more appropriate treatment. Not only that, but tailoring diets to patients' needs could help halve their recovery time, the right nutrition will help the body repair itself quicker." She grinned.  
Tabby shook her head, "You're mad." She commented.  
"But very useful." Henrik pointed out, "There is a patient discussion in 10 minutes in Meeting Room 2, if you don't mind I'd like your opinions." He then turned and strode down the ward.  
Erin leaned closer to her best friend, "By the way, he knows a lot about you, do you think that's weird?" She whispered.  
"Not when he's my boyfriend, no." Tabby smirked.  
Erin gasped, "You're fucking the boss?!" She blurted.  
Tabby's hand smacked against the nurse's face, concealing her mouth to prevent any more sudden verbal farts, "Shhhh, tell the whole ward that, why don't you?"  
"Oh my God, you mean it's a secret fling?" Erin vibrated with excitement over her girl-friend's juicy gossip.  
Tabby scrunched her face, "No, most of the staff know about us, it's just the way you put it made it sound dirty."  
Erin smiled, "Yeah, sorry about that."

"Amy Howells has come in presenting rather unusual symptoms…"  
Tabby glanced to the two doctors either side of her, Ric and Dom were focused on the front; she sat at the head of the table, bored. She had already been through the patient file before it was lifted from her hands by Sacha and given to another doctor, claiming "With a little more experience, the interesting cases will come her way". So why was she here? And why wasn't Sacha or the other doctor here either?  
She glanced further past Dominic to where Bernie was sat; so that's Berenice Wolfe, she's definitely Erin's type. Then next to Bernie was old Uni pal, and housemate, Erin Williams, _Staff Nurse_ Erin Williams, how did that happen?  
Her eyes glided up and down her lover's body as he stood up front going through his PowerPoint. Her tongue began to twizzle around the end of her biro. It wasn't until she sensed a couple of awkward glances from Bernie that she realised what she was doing, and now she was paying a bit more attention she realised Henrik's gaze was set on her most of the time, whatever she had been doing was grabbing his attention. _'This could be fun.'_ She smirked inwardly. 1, _pop,_ 2, _pop._ She pushed her now very open blouse apart and gave a little wriggle making sure her cleavage was on full display.  
Henrik gave a cough and quickly turned back to his laptop to change the slide.  
Bernie gave Erin a quick flick on the thigh and nodded her head towards Tabby, to which Ric too gave a subtle glance; when Tabby gave them a wink they all amusedly smirked to each other and decided to enjoy the rest of the talk.  
Meanwhile, despite how obviously Tabby had exposed herself and started licking her pen lewdly; Dom had not a hint of what was going on right beside him.

Tabby gave the sharp suited, CEO a playful wink before licking her finger and trailing it softly down her neck to her cleavage, pulling her collar aside a little more she sucked on her pen erotically.  
He couldn't keep his eyes off her but every time he watched her antics his mind went fuzzy, his intended words fumbled to the fore and he found himself having to quickly look away before it was noticed how distracted he was. He knew she was playing but she was still so sexy.  
Tabby then ran her hand down her torso and under the desk. From her motions it appeared her hand was in between her legs. She gave little expressions showing how much she was enjoying herself under the table. Ric lowered his head and stifled a chuckle when he spotted her movements.  
Poor Henrik took a long sip of water to cool and compose himself; this was a bit daring wasn't it? He very much liked it but what if the others witnessed it? Unbeknownst to him, they knew exactly what was going on, and they found it hilarious, trust Tabby to liven up an otherwise boring, run-of-the-mill patient discussion.

He finally stumbled over the finish and went for another sip of water as he dismissed the team. Once the last was out of the door Tabby prowled forward, gliding a flirty finger across the desk, she gave him an expecting look, to which he replied with a warning glance.  
"I'm sorry, Mr Hanssen, was I distracting you?" She smirked.  
"Don't you ever do that again, will you?"  
"Oh you know I will." She winked.  
Henrik placed a hand on the table next to Tabby's hip and trapped her against the table, "That was very naughty of you." He stood over her, looking down his nose, he was playfully stern.  
Tabby bitten her lip, it always got her excited when he was dominant over her. She took a timid hold of his tie.  
"I do believe it could be classed as sexual harassment." He inched his face closer to hers.  
As he moved closer pressing her into the table, she arched her back and puffed out her chest to make contact with his.  
"Am I in trouble?" She whispered.  
"Very big trouble." He replied huskily, his lips brushing against hers, "I'd be moved to take some disciplinary action against you." He slipped his knee between her thighs causing her to gasp; but before she could make too much noise his lips met hers in a gentle yet passionate kiss.

Her hands moved up to stroke his face whilst he wrapped his arms around her waist. Without thinking she began to grind herself on his thigh. Things were getting steamy just as the door swung open.  
"Sorry I think I left my-"  
Tabby and Henrik halted their make out session and turned to the door.  
Bernie shook her head, "Actually, it's just my pager, I don't think anybody will want me soon anyway." She gave an awkward half wave and swiftly left the room.  
Tabby snorted and giggled into Henrik's lapel as he too chuckled and kissed her on the head. Every time.

"Double date."  
"What?" Tabby munched on her cookie as she shoved the coins into her purse and picked up her coffee.  
"A double date." Repeated Erin, "You and Hanssen, and me and Bernie."  
They took a seat next to the window.  
"Christ, you haven't put the moves on Ms Wolfe already have you?"  
"Christ hasn't, and neither have I, but I wouldn't say I had long to go with her. She's been giving me these looks, you know?" Erin tucked into her sandwich with enthusiasm.  
Tabby shook her head as she opened her homemade pasta pot and dug in.  
"Is this a private party or can anyone join?"  
The girls looked up, and Erin's face brightened.  
Tabby motioned casually to the empty chair, "Of course, take a seat. I'm Tabitha Rees." She held her hand out for a shake.  
"Bernie Wolfe, I've heard a lot about you." She greeted sitting down and preparing her lunch.  
Tabby gave a grimace.  
"All good, I promise you." Bernie reassured.  
"And you've met my good friend, Erin, I think she's taken quite a shine to you." Tabby gave Erin a wink as the young nurse gave her a panicked warning look.  
"Has she now?" Bernie took a bite of her sandwich giving Erin a subtle glance; she smiled at the nurse's coy expression.  
Tabby was suddenly distracted; she stared longingly as the man exited the lift and rounded the corner towards the counter of the coffee shop. He'd spotted her almost the moment the doors opened, and as their eyes locked he gave her a smart nod of a silent 'hello'.  
"That man's adorable Tabs, you're a very lucky girl." Bernie gave the doctor an admirable smile.  
Tabby sighed, "In a way I just wish sometimes he wasn't the CEO." She admitted.  
Erin's eyes bolted up from her food towards Tabby.  
She continued to explain, "Don't get me wrong, it's nice to know that you're, *cough* _'Fucking the boss'_ ,however that gets people thinking that you've got the easy life, you can get what you want because of your relationship and it makes me paranoid sometimes that people are giving me that look, like _you're only in it for the benefits_. The only benefit I'm in it for is that I'm bedding a very sexy, intelligent, hunk of a man who has a heart that's sweeter than candy-floss." She grinned to herself as the girls giggled.  
Henrik gazed over at the girls' table, he smiled as he witnessed them laughing together and decided he'd leave them to their girly chat and have his lunch in his office.

They weren't long into their lunch when a chorus of bleeping rang from their pockets.  
They all read their screens.  
"Howells." Tabby stated.  
"Same here." Bernie seconded.  
"Me too." Erin followed.  
With a scrape of chairs they scooped up their belongings and lunches and headed for the lift.


	11. Chapter 11

Happy Belated Birthday HW! Hope this was worth the wait. :)

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"She's crashed and I can't figure out the cause." Dom continued frantically examining the patient as Ric kept up the CPR.  
"Has she coughed up blood?" Erin asked looking pointedly at the stains on the sheets.  
"Vomited, yes." Ric confirmed.  
Bernie stepped up and helped Dom's examination, "We need to get her into theatre and do an in depth exploration."  
"I'll go and inform the theatre team." Tabby turned and strode towards the desk.  
"And ring Mr Hanssen, please." Bernie called to her as she and the others wheeled their patient away.

"What happened?" Henrik approached, hands clasped in front of his chest.  
Bernie and Dom were searching through the cavity they had opened, "She started vomiting up blood and suddenly went into shock, we still can't figure out the cause." Dominic explained.  
"May I?" Henrik motioned to take over Dom's place at the patient. He waited for Bernie to finish what she was doing and move out of the way before taking a feel and a look.  
"There's a lot of loose tissue and blood." Bernie huffed, exasperated.  
"It doesn't look good does it?" Henrik agreed still exploring.

Suddenly the intercom came to life, "She's a heavy user of Ibuprofen. She must have had 4 packets in her bag, at least 2 of them empty." Erin puffed out.  
"That would explain the loose tissue; it must be bits of stomach lining, lush." Dom rolled his eyes.  
Henrik looked over to the gallery where the two friends were stood, panting after their frantic search of the patient's belongings and their sprint to the theatre to relay their findings, "Do you have her notes there at all?"  
Tabby held up the folder, "What are we looking for?"  
"Any previous illnesses or hospital visits which may result in a prescription of strong anti-inflammatories or pain killers." He explained getting back to his search.  
Tabby flicked through as Erin tried to remember her conversation with her.  
"She mentioned something about having really bad pre-menstrual pains, but it was almost like she blew it off like no big deal, we all get varying strengths of PMS, right?" Erin recalled.  
"Tell me about it." Bernie scoffed.  
Tabby paused her scan, "PMDD?"  
Erin thought for a moment, "Try it." She nodded.  
"Did she mention about getting treatment for it?" Bernie asked.  
"How about a diagnosis of acute dysmenorrhoea?" Tabby raised her eyebrows, "This was six months ago, she was prescribed 400mg Ibuprofen to be taken no more than 3 times a day for no more than 3 days when her pains became uncomfortable. What's the betting she's just become addicted?" Tabby shrugged.  
"Right, we'll repair what we can, see how it goes and then work out a plan from there." Henrik informed his theatre team, he then turned to the gallery, "Thank you ladies, your findings explain a lot, if you can page the on-call psychologist please, we shall inform you when we're finished in here."

"Excuse me, love, you couldn't pick me pen up for me now, could you?" The lady motioned Tabitha over to her.  
Tabby strolled over smiling sweetly, "Of course I can." She bent down and retrieved the utensil, handing it back to its owner, "There you go."  
"You're ever so kind. How could I do me crossword otherwise, eh?" She grinned, "Oh, before you go, "Moving on up" four letters, something something 'F' something." She tapped her pen against her lips thoughtfully.  
Tabby gazed to the ceiling for a moment, "Lift."  
She rolled her eyes, "Of course it is, fancy not getting that, thank you ever so much."  
"You're very welcome, Mrs Hughes." Tabby gave the patient a smile and headed back to her colleague.  
"Where's the nearest pub?" Erin sighed.  
"Albie's, it's just around the corner. Come off it, it hasn't been that bad a day."  
"No but I could do with a bloody good party, a celebration, to a new job, new team, and cross fingers, a successful first patient." She opened the door to the staff room for Tabby.  
"Yes well let's hold off on that before we get news from theatre." She spoke as she flicked through the notes and sat at the table.  
As the young doctor paged the psychologist Erin poured them both a coffee.

"Ladies, Amy's back on the ward." Essie informed them from the doorway.  
"Cheers." Tabby thanked absently as she carried on flicking through the patient notes.  
"Hello, sorry to bother you, I'm here to speak to Tabitha."  
"Yes she's in here." Essie motioned for the man to enter the room.  
"Hello again, Adam." Tabby rolled her eyes before turning around to greet the familiar man.  
"Hello, this time on a professional basis rather than personal." He chuckled as he took a seat opposite her.  
Erin raised an eyebrow.  
"So, Amy Howells then." Adam grinned.  
Erin took a seat between them, giving Tabby an expectant look.  
"Ah, Adam this is my friend, and now work colleague-"  
"Erin, nice to meet you, I'm Dr Adam Higgins." He shook her hand.  
Tabby just stared at him, "H-how did you…?"  
"I remember the photos from your home, in the hallway." He explained.  
Erin grinned cheekily, now she understood, "Yeah, Tabby's not living there no more though, because she's now staying with her sexy new lover." Erin laughed, which lightened Tabby's mood slightly.  
"Anyway, introductions out of the way, Amy Howells, we think she may have an addiction to Ibuprofen." Tabby started.  
"Not uncommon, it's a powerful drug with powerful effects, people enjoy the speed at which it works and the length of time it works for, whereas Paracetamol or Co-codamol can take up to half an hour before they start to kick in, Ibuprofen can take just 10 minutes to start working. It also lasts several hours longer."  
"It stems from a diagnosis of dysmenorrhoea, but we also wondered about PMDD." Tabitha revealed.  
"Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder." He thought for a moment, "Not a bad call, I could see how that may lead to an addiction. PMDD can lead to depressive, even suicidal, thoughts, if that's the case with Amy she may be using the drugs as warped way to self-medicate psychological pain too."  
"She didn't seem depressive when I spoke to her, to be honest she seemed to shrug the entire thing off like it's no big deal." Erin interjected.  
Adam tilted his head, "Depression's a funny thing, sometimes the happiest people you know might actually be the most suicidal, depressives who aren't in it for the attention tend not to want to worry or cause problems for their peers, so they hide it, they seem entirely normal to all their friends and colleagues, even their own family, however when alone, they wallow in their self-hatred and severe pessimism."  
"Do you think you could pick up subtle queues that may reveal something like that?" Tabby asked.  
"I do, from what you've told me it appears Amy knows she's not feeling too upbeat, her thoughts about the drug have become a little warped; 'If it stops me feeling pain in here, maybe it'll stop me feeling pain in here'." He pointed to his head, "It may or may not be on a conscious level but that seems to be her thought process, the same for most NSAID addicts. But I believe it's rather dangerous for her to be on such a strong drug on a constant basis, am I right?"  
"Well it appears we're a bit late. Drugs such as Ibuprofen, when used regularly, can cause a degeneration of the stomach lining, leading to stomach cramps and vomiting which usually includes blood, which is why when prescribed we only advise to use for a short number of days and tend to have a follow up session to make sure things are OK, long term users should have regular blood tests. Amy came in showing symptoms of a stomach ulcer, however after the usual tests we couldn't spot anything of the sort, before we could do any more she deteriorated quickly and we had to perform exploratory surgery, which didn't show much until Erin found her stash of drugs." Tabitha grimaced.  
"When can I have a chat?"  
"She's not long come out of surgery so if you can hang around or stay available until she wakes that would be great."  
"And how about you?" Adam asked quietly.  
Tabby gave a lightening glance towards Erin, "Fine." She shrugged before swiftly getting up and leaving the room.  
Adam bit his lip, Erin doesn't know.

Henrik was chatting with a nurse in the middle of the ward, on catching a familiar figure in his peripheral vision he glanced over the nurse's head to Tabby, giving her a wink. With a sudden determination Tabby strode towards him. Henrik began to finish up his conversation but before he could do so there was a tug on his suit sleeve and his arm was dragged back behind him, with no choice but to leave he swiftly thanked the staff member and turned before he was pulled to the floor. Tabby was making a bee line for somewhere, and he had no choice but to follow. He was dragged through one door, then another, then one more which she shut behind him and pushed him back against before gripping his suit lapel, pulling herself to her tip toes, and placing her lips on his in a desperate release of passion.  
Confused, Henrik reciprocated, he couldn't help but love Tabby's spontaneous shows of affection or passion, however he would never have envisioned himself doing something like this in a hospital store room. He felt Tabby's knee slide up his thigh, he melted into her motions, his hands pressed against the small of her back, pulling her against him. Tabby's soft hand wrapped around one of his and she began to move it southward. Before she managed to place it where she wanted it he pulled away.  
"What's this all about?" He suddenly asked.  
Tabby reeled her head back puzzled, "Nothing, I just really wanted to kiss you."  
Henrik gave a sigh and as his eyes gazed into hers his stomach fluttered with her disappointed expression, _'So cute.'_  
"Don't you want to kiss me?" She whispered.  
Henrik drew a breath, "Let's continue this at home shall we?"  
And with that he turned and exited, leaving Tabby staring at the now empty space.  
"Fine." She muttered to herself.

"OK." Came a gruff breath.  
"Hello, how are you feeling?"  
"Hello." She husked.  
"Ms Wolf, she's waking." Essie informed the former army medic, "Amy, how are you feeling?" She turned her attention back to the patient.  
"What happened? I feel like shit?" Her voice was gruff.  
"And you didn't before?" Bernie raised an eyebrow, giving her a cheeky smile.  
"True, have I had an operation?" She glanced round to the three staff who were suddenly giving her attention.  
"Nurse Harrison, may you inform Dr Rees please. Yes, Amy, we had to take you in after you crashed on the ward…"  
"Tabitha, she's come round." The transplant co-ordinator informed as Tabby strolled through the ward.  
The young doctor strode over, "Amy, my name's Dr Rees, I'd just like to let you know I have someone who would like to have a chat with you when you're feeling up to it, would that be ok?" She spoke softly from the foot of the bed.  
Amy just nodded.  
"Alright, you get some rest and just let us know when you're ready." Tabby smiled and gave a nod to the rest of the team before heading back to the staff room; unfortunately for her, a now curious and concerned friend was still sat drinking a cup of coffee.

"Hello, Erin." Tabby spoke as naturally as she could.  
"Hello, Tabby, how about you then?" Erin's eyes bored into Tabby, expecting an explanation.  
"Sorry?" She played dumb.  
"Is there something you would like to tell me, or are we just not the best friends we used to be anymore?" Erin's stern expression faltered slightly.  
Tabby sighed, her shoulders dropped and she decided to take a seat, "Erin, I've been hiding nothing from you, but quite frankly it's not that big a deal." She shrugged.  
"A psychologist asked you how you were, and you blew him off, that's not a big deal? I'm just worried, Tabitha, nothing's been said."  
"We haven't long been back together." Tabby argued.  
At over-hearing the stressed conversation a certain psychologist spied discretely from the doorway.  
"Erin, I've been diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder, and after a recent incident of Acute Appendicitis; Hypochondria. Dr Adam Higgins is not just my colleague, he's my psychologist." Tabby ended quietly with her head hung.  
Adam poked his head around the door silently, how much of a friend is Erin then?  
"Tabitha why didn't you say anything?" Her expression sympathetic she reached forward for Tabby's hands.  
"Because it's not a big deal, I'm on medication and I've been having some CBT sessions, all's good." With a reassuring wink Tabby gave Erin the all clear to stop panicking.  
"Good, but next time tell me, I know I've been away but I'm here for you now." She locked her gaze with Tabby's, giving each other a trusting smile, then she pushed her coffee cup towards her old pal.

Tabby leaned against the pillar, watching with casual intrigue as Adam introduced himself to his new patient; a young woman, seemingly normal, going through normal womanly things, yet it affects her differently, emphasises the lows of her hormonal rapid fire, messes with her head until she no longer recognises the positive things in life, tries what she can to help herself, unfortunately doing more damage to herself. However just looking at her, talking to her, spending time with her, you would never know what she was going through. And that's what Adam could see, a simple conversation can reveal so much to the right mind, a mind that's willing to listen closely, and pick up the subtle nuances that make a person. Tabby suddenly felt naked, to Adam she must be completely transparent.  
Bernie approached from behind, "Her scans are looking surprisingly good, she'll be here for a while but she's going to make a full recovery, physically anyway." She rolled her eyes.  
"Fancy a drink tonight?" Tabby absently asked.  
"I know I do." Erin piped in as she walked past them.  
"Albie's it is then." Bernie grinned.  
Heading to the locker room the girl's carried on their chattering. Turning the key in her locker Tabby gave them a cheeky grin, "It's a good job I have this in here then." She pulled out a khaki green shirt dress and held it against herself, giving Erin a wink.  
"Now that's what I'm talking about girl." She giggled.

The three ladies strutted into the local pub, and on spotting you-know-who, Tabby excused herself to go and say 'hello'.  
"Hello." She smiled sweetly.  
Henrik looked her over, "Hello." He shook his head in disbelief.  
Tabby smirked, "Always start with hello, so we've got the basics down." She chuckled.  
He tittered, "Quite." Looking her over again he motioned for her to take a seat on the stool next to him, "What can I get you?"

After a few more glasses of wine Tabby was up and dancing with her girl pals, and it didn't take her long to begin moving her fluid motions towards her lover. Placing a hand on his chest she began to grind her body against his. Her other hand trailed its way down the outside of his thigh.  
He gave a small chuckle, feeling uncomfortable with her very public display, and as her hand switched directions and slid up the inside of his thigh he gave her a playful warning look.  
She giggled and just as her fingers got so close, she spun to face away from him, pressing her back against his body, she continued her grinding actions. She bent forward and twerked against his crotch, eliciting cackles of laughter from Bernie and Erin as they watched. As Tabby stood straight again, Henrik moved his lips close to her ear, "May we continue this later?" He whispered, huskily.  
Tabby turned and gave a wink of agreement before joining her pals again and enjoying the night.

Once home the pair couldn't keep their hands off each other. After dumping their stuff in the hallway, Tabby tried to crawl backwards up the staircase, but gave up realising she couldn't do that and keep her lips on Hanssen's. She opened her legs as Henrik ran his hands over her thighs. She pushed his suit jacket off his shoulders and as it hit the floor she trailed her fingers up and down his arms. She wriggled beneath him, twisting onto her front and began to crawl up the rest of the stairs, however Henrik was having none of it and grabbed her by her hips, pulling her gently to come back to him. He lifted the skirt of her dress, exposing her smooth, pert, cheeks; caressing them softly before laying a small, sharp smack, against one of them. Tabby yelped then moaned slightly, pushing her hips back towards Henrik as an invitation for more. His fingers walked over her panties, stroking lightly in places he knew would get her panting, which it did. Feeling her shudder under his touch he began to notice a damp patch forming, and on slowly pulling her knickers down to her knees he witnessed how much his actions were having an effect.  
Tabby suddenly moaned out loud as she felt a warm wet object begin moving over her sensitive areas. She began to scratch at the carpet on the stairs in an attempt to grab something to steady her. Henrik's tongue lapped at her clitoris, causing her hips thrust further towards his face.  
She heard the jangling of a buckle, and the swift pull down of a zip. She shifted herself round to face him, her legs spread wide, her entrance twitching in anticipation.  
He revealed his long, hard, member, and pressed it against her, and with one smooth motion, slipped it unhindered inside her.

Her head rolled back, too overcome to make a sound. His movements were long and slow, moving all the way out, and steadily all the way in. She raised her leg and placed her foot on top of the banister; an action which told Henrik she was ready to move up a gear.  
Grunts, gasps, groans and moans, panting and slapping, and the lewd mutterings of "Harder", "Deeper", and "Fuck yes, keep doing that".  
Henrik licked his thumb and began rubbing it over Tabby's clit as he continued to thrust rapidly into her. Her moans and groans became much higher in volume and as she bucked her hips up into him he slowed his movements and pushed himself to the hilt, deep inside her. Feeling his cock pressing far inside her, she panted out. Their gaze was set on each other, not looking away from each other's eyes. Henrik felt Tabby contract around him, he was just waiting for her reaction. Tears began to well in her eyes as she started pushing hard back against him, his cock so deep inside. Her face contorted into a pleasured grimace and her head lolled backwards, shouting out her climax.  
Once over the initial stage she rolled her hips against his, feeling the skin of his crotch against her clit, his balls touching against her backside, she cried out over and over, "Fuck, yes!" She murmured through her breathlessness.  
Henrik couldn't hold on much longer and suddenly realising they'd gone straight at it he pulled himself out, not a moment too soon as, with a groan of release, his semen shot out over Tabby's stomach, he then stroked his cock over her soaking wet folds; she was still sensitive so it made her jerk her hips with every movement.

Tabby ran her fingers over her stomach, wiping up some of the fluid, bringing it to her face she licked over her fingers, enjoying the taste of him. Henrik couldn't remove his eyes from her actions, she was a natural at looking sexy. His cock twitched when she realised he was watching her, and licking her lips she gave a seductive wink.  
He pulled her into his arms and they locked lips, coming down from their steamy session on the staircase.


	12. Chapter 12

"Right, this is Emma Bayer, she's 15, she collapsed at school. Paramedics have administered fluids in case of dehydration, however there is a suspicion of _anorexia_." Essie mouthed the last word, covering her mouth from the patient.  
Tabby nodded understandingly, "Hello, Emma, I'm Dr Rees, this is Mr Hanssen, I'm going to start by taking your pulse and blood pressure, and I'll have a little listen to your lungs as well, if that's OK?" She smiled sweetly.  
Emma nodded.  
Henrik picked up the folder and took out his pen, immediately writing down some observations.  
Tabby placed her fingers on the girl's wrist and stared at her watch for a few seconds, "Heart rate 56." She stated to Henrik, "I'm going to check your blood pressure now, have you ever had this done before?" She picked up the monitor and began to set it up.  
"No." Emma shook her head, taking in a deep breath.  
"OK, this bit goes around your arm like this…" She wrapped it around the girl's delicate upper arm, "…and when I turn it on it's going to buzz and constrict around your arm, it gets quite tight and can make your arm feel like it's got pins and needles a little, it does that because it needs to feel the blood pumping up and down your arm, but if it feels too much just let me know OK?" As she started the machine she watched as the cuff tightened, but as the numbers appeared she furrowed her brow. She tightened the cuff more and tried again. This time Emma gave a deep sigh. The numbers flicked up again and Tabby bit her lip, "BP 82 over 56. I'm just going to listen to your lungs now then, so if you sit up a little for me?" She removed the monitor and put it on the side before pulling her stethoscope over her head and placing the chest piece against the patient, "Take a nice full deep breath for me." She listened then moved to the other side, "And again." She listened, "Lean forward for me?" She did the same on Emma's back before nodding and telling her to relax.

"Your lungs sound lovely and clear, so no obstructions or problems there, however your blood pressure is rather low, which I think could be the main cause of your collapse; also your heart rate is below normal healthy ranges too, not by much, but again could be caused by your faint. I'd like to ask you a few questions if I may?" She picked up her clipboard, "Do you get dizzy spells at all, or blackouts?"  
"Sometimes."  
"Did you get one before you fell?"  
"No, I just felt really weak, like my legs couldn't hold me."  
"How are your periods, have you started? Are they normal? Do they tend to be heavy, light, regular, irregular? Have you noticed any change with them?" She caught Emma glance towards Henrik nervously, "Do you want him gone?"  
Emma nodded shyly.  
Tabby turned around to the man who was still just jotting down notes and not really paying too much attention to their conversation, "Mr Hanssen, would you mind giving us some privacy for a moment please?"  
"Of course." Henrik smiled and took his file elsewhere.  
Tabby pulled shut the curtains between the other patients before taking a seat in the visitors' chair.  
"I don't have them anymore." Emma suddenly revealed.  
"But you used to?"  
She nodded.  
"How is your diet? Could you describe to me your daily meals?"  
"Well, I don't really eat breakfast, for lunch I usually just have a banana, then for dinner I have whatever has been cooked, cottage pie or spaghetti, something like that." She shrugged.  
"Do you ever purge yourself, make yourself vomit after food?"  
"Only on bad days." Emma whispered.  
Tabby tilted her head, "What happens on bad days?" Her voice was soft.  
"School, it's just boring, I don't really enjoy it, there are better things to do."

"It's definitely anorexia, she sometimes feels dizzy, has constant feelings of lethargy and weakness in her limbs, she's has undiagnosed amenorrhea, the only thing she eats all day before dinner is a banana, and she occasionally purges." Tabby explained to Henrik in the staff room.  
"We should call in her parents." Henrik warned.  
"I tried that, they work away all day, her father's in London and her mother's in Birmingham, they're both due back tomorrow, she doesn't have a contact number for either of them." Tabby shrugged.  
"Doesn't have it, or won't give it?" He raised an eyebrow.  
"Sorry?"  
"She's not stupid, she knows exactly that what she is doing isn't right and that her parents will be upset with her for it, so she doesn't want them to find out." He explained.  
"But surely they'd have noticed her deterioration, a child can't get that thin and it go unnoticed by her own parents." Tabby argued.  
"It can when they spend most of their time away at work." He pointed out.  
Tabby stood, "I'm going to find a psych-consultant anyway. She's fifteen, she's hardly incapable of making up her own mind about her own body, so parents or no parents I'm pushing on with her treatment. Go ahead, strangle me with the red tape because I don't give a crap…" She continued moaning as she exited the door and out of the ward.

"Oops." She tried to reach down from her bed to the book on the floor when another hand reached it first and placed it in front of her, "Thanks."  
"You're welcome." The tall consultant gave a smile and a nod. He stood at the end of her bed, leaning his elbows on the bottom post, he looked over at what he realised was a text book, "So you're into fashion design?" He asked curious.  
"And manufacture." She grinned, this was a topic of high interest to her.  
"May I?" He pointed to have a look at the book.  
She handed it over.  
Inside the front cover was a magazine, adorned with images of the latest fashion trends, colours and patterns that were in-season, and of course, stick thin models showcasing it all.  
Henrik gave a silent sigh, oh how this dented his morale, "What is it you like about the fashion world?"  
"It's all about trend setting, who can be the first to come up with something new that will take off like a rocket; and if your designs are liked, you could become world famous. And it's a never ending industry; people don't want one type of shirt in 4 different colours in their wardrobe, they want 4 different shirts, in 4 different colours, with 4 different patterns, in 4 different designs. I want to be a trend setter."  
"You like to be leader of the pack?" He smiled.  
"Ye." She shrugged coyly.  
"Do you look up to these models then?"  
"I do, of course I do, they're the people you need to like your designs to begin with because if they won't wear them, the public won't see them." Her eyes glistened.  
"What is it about them that appeals to you?"  
"They're gorgeous, so attractive, everybody likes a model. They're nice and skinny, with beautiful hair and make-up."

Henrik glanced over to where Tabby was chatting with another patient.  
Emma followed his gaze, "Like Dr Rees, she's so gorgeous and thin." She stared dreamily at the doctor, who was palpating her patient at the end of the row of beds.  
Henrik's eyes shifted back to the teenager in front of him, seeing her longing eyes boring into Tabby, his heart cracked slightly, was that all young girl's thought about was attractiveness and body type?  
She suddenly sighed, "But she's got curves too, how can you be skinny and have curves?" She looked over herself.  
"She doesn't wear make-up, she spends a maximum of 10 minutes on her hair, she throws on an outfit without really checking if it works together, she's confident and friendly, she seems naturally perfect. But she isn't, even Dr Rees can spend time agonising over her wardrobe choices, shopping with her is a nightmare because it takes several repetitions of positive comments on a garment to convince her it suits her; and yes in actual fact she does sometimes wear make-up, to special occasions, if she goes out with the girls, if she just feels like it; I can't say much for the hair because it literally does just take her 5 or 10 minutes to get that looking presentable but even then, she can stand in front of a mirror and a tweak it with gel for a while.  
'As for her personality, her charm stems from a passion for her work, a love for life, a confidence built up from intelligence, however she has plenty of downfalls, days when she just isn't feeling it, days when you have to pick her up because she struggles to believe her good points exist. To me, that is beautiful, you are beautiful, just the way you are." Henrik reassured Emma.  
She look up at him curious, "Do you like Dr Rees just the way she is?"  
He gazed in her direction again, his eyes soft, "I wouldn't change her for the universe." He smiled to himself.  
She followed his stare again, "I take it you two are going out, yeah?" She glanced back towards him.  
Henrik couldn't help but chuckle, "Yes we're together." He confirmed before turning back to the text book and flicking through the pages.  
"It kind of says a lot though, beautiful, slim, confident woman who nabs an up-top consultant, it's the perfect love story." She sighed.  
Henrik furrowed his brow, his expression morphed to one of sympathy as his eyes scanned over the scribbles of pen ink that lay over the entire pages of neat printed text and colourful images and diagrams.  
 _MOO!  
Fatty!  
What Emma wants to look like – _(Arrow pointing to picture of a skinny catwalk model), _What she actually looks like –_ (Arrow pointing to a crude drawing of a bulbous cow)  
 _You'll look like this forever –_ (Arrow pointing to a diagram of a larger shaped model)  
 _Fat girl wants to be a fashion designer, lol!  
Emma will never be a model.  
…._

"Emma, do you get bullied in school?" He asked, gingerly.  
She snorted, "No." She laughed but she didn't sound convincing.  
Without saying another word, Henrik bit his lip and turned the book around, handing it back to her.  
She read the pages, tears welling in her eyes, "My book." She wobbled out, "They've messed up my book."  
Henrik's heart ached as he watched the tears begin to stream down her cheeks, "Emma, what happens in school?"  
"They do bully me." She sobbed, "I have to spend my break times and lunch times in the textiles classroom because they'll come and shout horrible things at me in the yard." She explained tearfully.  
Henrik nodded understandingly, "Do you enjoy your textiles class?"  
She sniffed, "I love things like drama, cooking, and textiles. I like sports too. My textiles teacher allows me to use the room during break and lunch for me to get on with my own projects, I'm currently designing sports-wear; things like vest tops, sports bras, funky running shorts, tennis skirts. As long as I buy my own materials I can use the equipment in there. It helps me get away from those girls anyway." She sighed.  
"Do they tease you about your weight?" Henrik was concerned this was where her anorexia had stemmed.  
"They call me fat, tell me they can see my belly rolls when I sit down, the ground shakes when I walk because of my _thunder thighs_ , I could never go abroad because the boat would sink or the plane couldn't take off, etcetera, etcetera; you get the gist." She shrugged, "Stupid really."  
"Is this why you try to lose weight?"  
"I just want to be thin, so boys will like me, so the girls stop calling me names, so I can have more people who want to be my friends." More tears began to roll down her cheeks.  
Henrik shook his head, "If you have to be thin to get them to like you, then they will never be your friends." He warned.

"Did young Emma mention anything about bullies at her school?" Henrik asked as he sat on the chair in Ric's office.  
"No, she just said she found it boring." Tabby explained, though suddenly it clicked, "She's being bullied." She rolled her eyes at herself.  
Henrik gave a nod in confirmation.  
"How'd _you_ get that out of her? She cringed at the word 'period' being mentioned around you, I couldn't even get a simple yes or no to a question about natural womanly happenings."  
"After I read her text book, and what was written in it, she couldn't hide anything." He pointed out.  
Tabby pressed her hand to her forehead, "Have young girls got nothing else to do at their age other than take the piss out of their vulnerable peers?..."  
Henrik glanced towards the door which was ajar, he caught sight of a motion by the pillar.  
Tabby's volume grew louder as she continued her rant, "She's not even fat, I bet she's never held an ounce of extra bulk on her in her entire 15 years of existence, and those cows think it's fine to demean, and ridicule a fellow human being on her appearance just because they're jealous that she's prettier than they are!"  
Henrik held his finger to his lips to tell her to shush but she was oblivious to the motion.  
She huffed, "How on earth to do they think that's acceptable?"  
As he realised his silent warning had gone unnoticed, his eyes shifted back to the doorway where his gaze met that of a wide eyed teenager's through the clear part of the logoed glass.  
Tabby meanwhile continued chomping the air, "I've never heard of as many insolent, insufferable, hard-headed, snot-nosed, stuck-up, little _brats_ as I have nowadays; and the bloody media doesn't help, glorifying horrifically dangerous levels of emaciation, branding it as sexy, beautiful, _valuable_. According to girly magazines and the like, boys only like girls who's collar bones can stab you in the chest, who's hip bones you can tie a ribbon on, who's rib cage you could play like a fucking xylophone…"  
"Tabitha." Henrik quietly warned, again which fell on deaf ears.  
"…Who the hell kind of a man wants a woman who's going to snap the moment you hold her hand, or pull her in for a cuddle. Why aren't curves considered sexy anymore? Going by media beauty standards I must be morbidly obese, one of the most disgusting creatures the catwalk would ever showcase!" She suddenly broke down in tears.  
Henrik sat up.  
"Am I not pretty? Why is society like this? Why do woman have to suffer such abuse?" She whimpered, sobbing, hunched over in the middle of the room, staring down at her feet, tears plopping from her face onto the laminate.  
Henrik's eyes darted back to the door but all he spotted was a flick of hair which disappeared quickly.

Tabitha introduced Emma to Dr Adam Higgins and Nurse Erin Williams. Henrik looked on from the office doorway as Tabby stood explaining the treatment plan to Emma: Erin was going to work on a diet plan full of nutrition and 'smart' fats to help Emma regain some weight without being unhealthy. Adam was going to work through some rational emotive behavioural therapy to curb her negative thoughts about weight and body type.  
Smiling to himself slightly he reached into his suit pocket for his phone, and after a quick search through his contacts he pressed the phone to his ear and waited a few seconds, "Hello, it's Henrik Hanssen, I was wondering if I may ask a small favour?..."

"I heard your conversation earlier." Emma bit her lip.  
Tabby glanced up at her patient as she tightened the tourniquet, "Oh yeah?" She frowned confused.  
Emma watched closely as Tabby wiped the inside of her elbow with a cotton pad and antiseptic, "In the office, with your boyfriend." She explained further.  
"I see." She absently mumbled as she got her tools ready, "Sharp scratch." She stated before pushing the needle in.  
Emma sucked through her teeth and looked away.  
Tabby attached the vacutainer then her eyes shifted to the ceiling, "I can't even remember what we were talking about."  
"About society and media and the girls at my school, and how they bully women about their appearance. And you're right, it was very empowering to hear what you said, because I suddenly realised it's not just me who gets it, it's nearly every woman in the world who has to struggle with society's pressures about their appearance. Men get it so easy, they don't have to worry about looking a certain way, or acting a certain way, they just get on with it."  
Tabby blew a stray hair off her forehead, before removing the vacutainer, "Tell me about it." She scoffed as she removed the needle and pressed a cotton pad against the area, "And those girls at school need to get a life, they bully because they've got nothing better to do, you rise above it because you're concentrating on your hobbies, just think how much better that makes you compared to them." She winked.

Emma giggled and looked down at her arm again, then shifted so she could see into the kidney dish.  
Tabby held up the vile containing the blood sample, "That's your blood, straight out of your arm."  
"It's so dark." She commented looking intrigued around the vile.  
"That's what your blood looks like in your body; when you cut yourself or you bleed the blood turns a scarlet colour because it reacts with the oxygen in the air, this hasn't come into contact with oxygen so it stays really dark. If this started to turn a brighter red now I'd have to take another sample because the lab needs your blood in its purest form so they can get the correct readings." Tabby explained.  
"So why do they need a blood sample then?" She asked curiously.  
"I'm sending this to the lab for a couple of tests we call LFTs and U's + E's. LFT stands for liver function test, they test the blood to make sure the liver is healthy, when it's damaged it leaks certain chemicals or enzymes into the blood, if your blood sample shows none of those enzymes it means you have a healthy liver.  
U + E stands for urea and electrolytes, and it measures the function of your kidneys, again it looks for the amount of those things in the blood and whether they're at healthy levels or not."  
"And they can work out all that just from that little bit of blood?"  
"In actual fact they use less than this, all they need is just a tiny drop for each test. With some tests they will add a drop of different chemicals to make the blood do something or show something that they wouldn't normally be able to see, they then look at the mixture under a microscope to see what they can find. They need more than just a tiny bit of your blood though because they may do more than one test from the same sample, or do repeats of certain tests to make sure they get accurate results." Tabby smiled, this girl wasn't bored with school at all, she clearly loved to learn, but her bullies got in her way and made her hate the place.

As Tabby placed a plaster over the tiny hole she turned around bemused at the young new voice behind her.  
"Delivery for a Miss Emma Bayer?" The handsome young man held up a package grinning at the puzzled teenager sat up in bed.  
"That's me." She tentatively held up her finger.  
The man handed over the package, "Enjoy." He gave a polite nod and left.  
Gingerly she ripped open the paper and her face suddenly lit up; A bright, clean, shiny, new text book, exactly the same as the one her bullies had defaced, and underneath was yet another crisp book The Fashion Designer Survival Guide, a biography of Ann-Sophie Back, and a copy of the latest issue of Vogue.  
"But who…?" Her eyes suddenly landed on another pair across the other side of the ward, hidden in the shadow.  
The eyes twinkled, and the face gave an appreciative nod.  
Emma nodded back in gratitude before she began eagerly flicking through her new books.  
Tabby gazed over to where Emma had been looking, but the space was now empty, _'That man.'_ She thought to herself fondly.

*Knock knock*  
That timid rap on the door told him exactly who was waiting on the other side, "Come in." He called, smiling to himself though his eyes never left his computer screen.  
The door swung open, but no one entered, "You're a sneaky little bastard." Tabby stated from the doorway.  
Surprised, Henrik looked up towards the voice and spotted her cheeky grin, "I do believe my parents were wed when I was born thank you very much." He played, dryly.  
Tabby entered and shut the door, "How much did all that cost for Christ sake?"  
"A friend of mine owns a nearby book shop and he owed me a favour, so not a single penny changed hands." He explained, still typing away.  
"Wow, Emma must have made quite an impression on you." She walked round to the back of his desk and perched on it next to where Henrik was working.  
He stopped typing, "You both did." He smiled admiringly up at his girlfriend, her passionate rant from earlier replaying in his mind. He ran his hand up her thigh and placed it on her hip, "You are incredibly beautiful, there's no way you could be described as anything else, and yes, I find you very sexy." He finished on a husky note.  
Tabby giggled and looked up at her partner coyly. He pulled her towards him and sat her on his lap, moving his hand up to her cheek he gave a gentle invitation to kiss.


	13. Chapter 13

I severely apologise for the wait, no excuses I know, I hope you enjoy this chapter, it contains many of my Hanssen fantasies and I hope it caters to yours too. XD

* * *

Sammy gave a flash of his hazards confirming he was now locked as the two girls continued nattering.  
Pulling down the lid of his boot, Henrik eyed the ladies heading together towards the building, he gave a small smile to himself before fetching out his key to lock his car.  
"Morning, Henrik."  
"Morning, Mr Hanssen."  
The girl's greeted with their appropriate addresses, each accompanied by a beaming smile.  
"Good morning, an enjoyable night I take it?" He joined beside them.  
Tabby gave an excited gasp, "We haven't had a catch up like that in years, Henrik, it was a proper girly night, wasn't it?" She glanced to Erin for affirmation.  
Erin nodded, "It was just like old times." She agreed almost sentimentally.  
"I do miss it." Tabby said, mainly to herself.

Suddenly the roar of an engine interrupted their conversation and they all stopped and turned to the sound of the Bandit's 4-stroke engine chugging on stop behind them.  
Tabby's face lit up.  
"Meet my machine, Paper Girl." She kicked down her stand and swung her leg over, reaching into her pannier for another helmet.  
Tabby gasped, "Are you being serious?"  
"It'll only be a quick tour of the carpark, can't keep Mr Hanssen waiting too long for you, can we?" Jac's cheeky sarcasm could be heard clear as day through the muffling of her helmet.  
Tabby gave a tiny ecstatic squeak and practically skipped towards the red head and her motorbike, "I won't be long you two, I'll see you both up there." She called to them, clipping her helmet into place.  
Henrik and Erin gave her a wave as she swung her leg over the bike and settled in snug behind Jac.  
"You chose a hell of a day to wear a skirt, Tabs." And with that Jac revved her engine and set off around the car park.

"I'm going to grab a coffee, would you like one, Mr Hanssen?" Erin offered, pointing towards the café counter.  
"Oh, no thank you, I have my Chocca Mocha Latte waiting on my desk courtesy of my personal assistant, with a caramel drizzle of course." He waited for Erin's confused silence to erupt into a giggle of sudden understanding of his dry wit, and with a knowing smile and nod he turned for the staircase.  
He paused on his usual spot on the stairs to take a glance down to the carpark, he chuckled as he watched the motorbike, with its pillion passenger, drive smoothly in figure-of-eights and circles between the parked cars and tufts of bushes, the passenger throwing her fist up with joy every now and again.

"…I have a meeting at half past and then a teamwork session with the staff on Keller, so I'm afraid I'll be unavailable all day… Tomorrow it will have to be, yes… Thank you kindly." He pressed the button to end the call and turned to the other side of his desk where a pile of paperwork and folders sat.  
He gave a sigh and checked his watch, 8.22. He grabbed the items he needed and headed for the door but he was caught off guard when it suddenly swung open inches from his face, and a small figure hurried in, shut it and clicked the lock across. She flung herself towards him and dropped to her knees, hastily unbuckled his belt and trousers and reached in, pulling out his member, which semi-hardened rapidly with her touch.  
She immediately took the fairly flaccid appendage into her mouth and began sucking.  
"Tabitha, what do you think you're… uh, doing?" He finished on a husky moan as he began to enjoy the feeling of her warm, wet, mouth around him.  
She continued her lewd actions as she felt him grow and stiffen in her mouth, then with not a single word, she got to her feet and shuffled over to his desk, placing her knee upon the front of it and bending over, pulling her skirt up and her panties out of the way. Finally, whilst placed in such an erotic position, she explains herself, "Henrik, I need you to fuck me right now." She whimpered desperately.  
Henrik checked his watch again, "Tabitha, I have a meeting in 5 minutes." He huffed.  
"Please, Henrik, I'm so horny right now." She pleaded.  
Curious, he wandered over to her and slapped his paperwork down in front of her, and with his free hand he rubbed his fingers over her pussy, eliciting an appreciative moan, "You're soaking, what have you been doing?" He slipped a finger inside her.  
"Mmmm, Henrik, I need you." She reached around for his now rock hard cock and placed it near her entrance.  
"Tabitha, we can't, I haven't got protec-tion!" He gasped as she thrust herself back into him, he was deep inside her, her wet warmth enveloping his naked cock.  
She could feel every movement of his foreskin sliding inside her without the barrier of rubber normally between them. He could feel every ripple and bump of her vagina.  
As he began to thrust she explained herself, "You know Jac took me on her motorbike? The vibrations from the engine turned me on so much, I got all wet and sticky and needed to come and see you fast." She moaned out as he fucked her over his desk.  
Henrik's thrusts became fast and erratic and all too soon he pulled out, pressed his member against the back of her thigh, tugged it a few times, then came down her leg with a grunt (quick, urgent fucks in his office always got him going, and knowing they didn't have much time or were at risk of getting caught made it all the more fun).  
He pushed himself back into his trousers and done himself up and before turning her around. Her arse resting on the front of his desk he played with her clit gently, "I thought you had a meeting to go to." She puffed.  
"I couldn't leave a lady unfinished now, what kind of gentleman would I be?" He slipped his fingers inside her and began to thrust into her fast and sharp.  
One hand wrapped around his tie, her other gripping the front of his desk, she did all she could to keep herself from screaming out loud. Henrik adored her orgasmic face contortions and as her panting became louder and faster, the sound of his fingering getting wetter and wetter, and the grip on his tie pulling him lower and lower her vagina finally contracted hard around his fingers, he carried on for a few moments, making her writhe as she came down from her climax slightly.  
He then whipped his fingers out from her, grabbed his notes, strode towards the door, unlocked it, and left, casually flinging the door shut behind him and all without uttering a sound.  
As he strode down the corridor he took out his hanky and wiped his fingers as he carried on towards the meeting room, a smirk lining his lips.

Tabby meanwhile was still where he left her, breathless, perched on the front of his desk, legs wide open, skirt pulled above her waist, her juices dripping onto the carpet, she hung her head back, "That was _amazing_." She muttered to herself.  
Suddenly a thought came to her mind, she had nothing on today until later, she was only in work for the dreaded teamwork workshop. With a cheeky giggle she slipped herself off the desk and scurried round to his chair. She kicked off her shoes and pulled off her panties; she placed her foot up against the edge of his desk and placed her other leg over the arm of the chair, her legs open wide. She licked her fingers, smothering them in saliva, and brought them against her clit, rubbing softly, she closed her eyes and moaned quietly to herself.  
Images of their lustrous act just now began to repeat in her head. She kept thinking about how hot he looked in his suit, all dressed smart, in his office, pounding his fingers into her, only having 2 minutes before he has to go and sit in a room with a bunch of other important, executive people, knowing the dirty deed he did just minutes prior; his fingers still smelling of her juices, his cock still semi hard, having to keep his mind on the task without getting distracted by the memory of his rule breaking, slightly sleazy act. How stoic he still was as he did it, how he left with not a single word.  
She rooted in his drawers to find something to penetrate herself with, something he'd use when he came back in and he'd notice the sticky wetness of it, the smell of her juices on it.

Meanwhile, Henrik was restless, several times he'd subtly adjusted himself under the desk, he couldn't sit still, his leg vibrated uncontrollably, his pen kept twizzling between his slender fingers, and clicked on and off constantly. Then, in ponder over a comment made by Mr Cunningham, he brushed his hand over his lips to be greeted by the sweet scent of his girlfriend still lingering on his fingers. A sudden flashback clouded his mind, he closed his eyes for a second as someone decided they too wanted to join the meeting. Her wet warmth engulfing his cock, the sweet sound of his fingers pounding into her, the tantalising taste of her still on his tongue, all of this happened over his desk, he'll never be able to look at the office the same way.  
"Mr Hanssen, what are your thoughts?"  
Henrik's lewd images halted and his eyes shot open to meet the curious gaze of Mr Cunningham, he'd been spotted.  
Henrik gave an awkward cough and reached down to adjust himself, yet again…

"Mr Hanssen." Terence waved him over to him as the rest of group exited the room, "Is everything ok? You appeared a little distracted." His concern was genuine, much to Hanssen's relief, he didn't seem to an inkling of the thoughts going through his head.  
He gave a sigh, "I do apologise, there have been other priorities on my mind, however that isn't relevant. I'll be sure to consider todays minutes again and I'll contact you with my decision in due course." He gave a polite nod and left.

"Oh, fuck, yes Henrik, yeah fuck me, mmh, that feels so good." She whispered to herself as she slipped her fingers in and out of herself, increasing in speed. She was so engrossed in her self-love-making session she didn't hear the door open.  
His eyes widened as he witnessed the scene behind the desk, a scene that brought his best mate to attention very quickly. He heard how wet she was as the lewd squelch of fingers penetrating pussy filled the room alongside her soft erotic mutterings and moans. However his authoritative morals fought their way to the fore, he furrowed his brow and resisted the incredibly strong urge to ravish her there and then, he flung the door shut.  
Hearing the slam of the room she gasped, her legs shut like a Venus Fly Trap and she tried to cover what she could.  
"Tabitha, I don't think that's appropriate do you?" He gave her a warning look and placed his files on the desk.  
Tabby gave a flirty giggle and opened her legs again, performing her masturbatory show for him, watching for his reaction, "Come play with me, Henrik?" She pleaded.  
He did his best to ignore her seduction, "No, thank you." He sighed.  
"I need your cock inside me, Henrik." She whispered huskily, pulling open her entrance with her forefingers, giving visual back up to her desire.  
Henrik stared at her, she was being unusually forward today with her sexual demands.  
She kept her eyes on him as he made his way behind the desk to take back his seat, as he sat she sneaked under the desk and undone his trousers again, took out his stiff cock and hungrily began sucking on it. He looked down at her ready to give her a telling off, but as her eyes gazed up at his, her mouth travelled down his cock, her lips revealed his head, her tongue gently licked the end, and Henrik finally hung his head back and fell into the enjoyment of her skillful technique.  
*Knock knock knock*  
They both suddenly turned to the door.  
"Under the desk." He shooed her further under the furniture and pulled his chair closer in, he quickly laid out some paperwork, and as Tabby attempted to grab his still unclothed erection, he tapped her away and shook his finger, "Come in." He called when he felt ready.

"Ah, Mr Griffin, what can I do for you-?" He jumped slightly as the pleasurable sensation returned between his legs.  
"I wanted to discuss this morning's meeting if that's ok with you?" Ric seeked permission.  
Henrik gave a nod and motioned his head for Ric to take a seat, he daren't open his mouth as it would probably come out as a wobble.  
Ric sat in the chair opposite Hanssen and paused to think of his opening statement, "I won't beat around the bush, do you perhaps wonder if Mr Cunnigham has something up his sleeve at all? I don't mean to sound dubious about the man but I suspect there is a hidden motive in his generous offer."  
Henrik took a breath, with both hands resting on top of the desk he had no way of pushing her off him, "I would say out of most of the board Cunningham is, in my opinion, one of the more trustworthy members." He coughed to keep himself under control.  
"Do you not think his ideas are a little far-fetched for us? We haven't got that status have we?"  
Henrik nodded thoughtfully, "I see where you are coming from, I did have images of unicorns and rivers of honey in my mind during his pitch…" _'The unicorn of my crotch and the honey of Tabby's, that is.'_ He thought to himself with a hint of a smirk as he recalled his actual thoughts during that meeting, "…However what's the harm of humoring him and trialing the project?"  
Ric gave a sigh, "You're a brave man, Mr Hanssen, I have my doubts of its success, but I suppose it is on your head and not mine, thankfully." He got up from his seat.  
"It is, but if you have your concerns please do email me, I will take them into consideration." Henrik reached to pick up his pen.  
"Thank you for your time." And with that Ric left the office.

Not a second too soon, as the door clicked shut Henrik's hand shot under the desk, his fingers entangled themselves in her hair and he held her head where it was as he grunted into an intense orgasm.  
Tabby moaned as she felt his liquid shoot into her mouth, warm and creamy.  
Henrik panted as he came down from his climax, he pushed his chair away from the desk, his member flopping out of his lover's mouth.  
Tabby gazed up to him seductively and opened her mouth, showing her prize coating her tongue.  
"And what do you intend to do with that?" His voice smug.  
With a silent satisfied gulp she gets back to licking his now limp member, subtly showing him where his juices have gone.


	14. Chapter 14 - Farewell Good Friend

"You ready?" Tabby drew a deep breath.  
Henrik shrugged on his suit jacket, "I think so." He ran his thumbs down the lapels and giving a nervous grimace.  
Tabby stepped forward and straightened his tie for him.  
He looked her over, "You look beautiful, she would have loved that dress on you."  
"And you look dashing, she would have said you were my Prince Charming."  
They lightly chuckled and Henrik turned and picked the urn up from the coffee table.  
"Got your keys?" Henrik checked.  
Tabby held them up and gave them a jingle as they made their way to the door.

It was a sombre atmosphere in the car as they drove in silence. Tabby reached to turn on the radio and despite Heart's club classics sounding in the background Henrik made no attempt to reach for another station. Tabby's heart felt heavy, he must be in bits, but Henrik being Henrik not a single pixel of his heart shows upon his sleeve. Idle conversation filled occasional gaps but otherwise it was a quiet ride.  
Tabby was somehow relieved when they reached their destination; The Hoof & Boat.  
"It hasn't changed its name I see." Henrik smiled gazing up at the letters on the wall of the building.  
Tabby looked around, her brow furrowed, "I've been here before I think."  
"Really?" Henrik didn't appear too surprised.  
"Only for a walk." Tabby shrugged, locking the car she joined Henrik's side.  
"You see that row of cottages over there?" He pointed to the terrace across the road from the pub.  
"Mm hm." She confirmed.  
"That middle one was where Fran used to live, and this pub was owned by Mick's parents, they never gave it up until they died, by that time Mick and Fran had moved 3 miles down the road to a place called Lily Grove, a little cul-de-sac of about six small houses just off the main road, I believe it's been knocked down and now has an Aldi built on it." Henrik nodded as he remembered what Fran had told him the last they were here.  
"See Fran, you're home." Tabby smiled solemnly at the urn before turning her gaze and holding back her tears.  
Turning they started down the canal path.

Spotting a bridge not too far in the distance Henrik took a deep breath.  
 _'This is it.'_ Tabby thought to herself, spotting Henrik's unease.  
As they reached the bridge Tabby took a hold of her tense lover's hand, he was trembling slightly.  
Their eyes met, and she gave him a supportive nod, "You ready?" she whispered.  
Henrik breathed deeply, "I think so." Letting go of her hand he stood on the edge of the path facing the water under the bridge.  
Tabby stood back and allowed him his moment.

With one last deep breath, hugging the urn he began his speech,  
"We'll remember you now you've gone away,  
Gone far away into the silent land,  
Now we can no more hold you by the hand,  
Nor you half turn to go yet turning stay.  
We'll remember you now there's no more day by day,  
You tell us of our future that you plann'd,  
We'll only remember you; you understand,  
It will be late to counsel then or pray.  
Yet if we should forget you for a while,  
And afterwards remember, we will not grieve:  
For if the darkness and corruption leave  
A vestige of the thoughts that once you had,  
Better by far we should forget and smile  
Than that we should remember and be sad.

You've had some of the best times of your lives here with Mick, now it's time, you can continue your dreams together, right under this very bridge."

He gave a quick sniff and lowered himself to one knee, steadily placing the urn next to him, he popped off the lid and reached his hand in, taking a small handful of ash and then scattered it gently onto the water.  
Tabby whimpered slightly and wiped tears from her cheeks. She watched as he took another pinch and scattered again.  
Henrik suddenly heard a clop from Tabby's shoe and turned to look up at her, his face streaked with tears.  
She crouched next to him, "May I?" She asked hesitantly, motioning to the urn.  
"She was as much of a friend to you as she was to me." Henrik stated and moved the urn towards Tabitha for her to take a handful and scatter herself.  
"Take good care, Fran, don't do anything I wouldn't do." She smiled as she sprinkled her handful onto the water.  
"Which probably won't be a lot then." Henrik chuckled quietly.  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tabby looked insulted but they couldn't help but giggled together as they both sprinkled their last handfuls onto the canal.  
Tabby waved at the floating ashes drifting leisurely down the canal, "Bye Fran."  
Henrik too gave a short wave, and with a sigh he got to his feet.  
Tabby got up but without looking up from the floor she turned, buried her head into Henrik's chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. For the first time ever since Fran's passing she finally cried; not the quiet tears she'd been expressing the entire time but full, emotional sobs.

Henrik returned the cuddle, finally she was expressing her grief; perhaps she felt it wasn't right for her to grieve Fran because she felt she didn't have the close past that Henrik had with her; she wasn't necessarily a close friend, or a relative so it may have felt wrong for her to cry like this. She had held so strong for Henrik, whilst he broke down she built herself of stone, she became his stretcher when she needed to carried him through his grieving, stayed dry and became his towel when he was soaked with tears, and now she was letting it all go.  
This time it was Henrik's turn, he'd done his main grieving, he now needed to guide Tabby through hers.

After a few minutes she became still. Henrik broke the embrace to crouch slightly and place his hands on her cheeks.  
"She was a good friend." She sobbed as she realised he was checking she was ok.  
He nodded and pulled her in again, holding her tightly as he took the turn to hold back his tears and become her rock.

"Let's go in, I'm so hungry." Tabby pulled at Henrik's sleeve as he continued scanning the menu outside the door, "There are menus inside, come on." She begged.  
"Ok, ok." Henrik rolled his eyes, chuckling.  
With their drinks in hand they took a seat at a table next a window and as Henrik picked up the menu Tabby happened to spot a familiar face.  
She leaned forward, "Is that De Luca, three o'clock, by the fire place?"  
Henrik took a sly glance, "That's very odd, it does appear to be him." He agreed getting back to choosing his lunch.  
It was suddenly obvious to Tabby that Raf had spotted them as well, by his tiny awkward glances in their direction. She decided to have some fun. Slowly she slid her leg up and down Henrik's.  
He raised his eyes from the menu to give her a warning look.  
She met his subtle glare, "What?" She shrugged.  
Glancing back to the AAU doctor, who was also having lunch with a female friend, she spotted his uncomfortable gulp. Concluding that this wasn't fun enough in one swift motion she leaned forward, grabbed Henrik's tie, and pulling him towards her they locked lips. Mid-kiss she took a peak, poor confused Raf stared with wide eyes as the unexpected scene played out in front of him.

With Raf on one side of the room, mouth agape with amazement, and Henrik sat in front of her silent from shock, Tabby couldn't stop herself giggling; well that was one perk of dating the boss, co-workers are always stunned to see the uptight Swede throwing down some loving passion. 


	15. Chapter 15 - Familiar Faces

I 'm going to stop apologising for the slow updates because you're probably sick of hearing it. I know I will need to update more now that Henrik's left the building (again *eye roll*). I've read your ideas, I really like them, here's to a favourite requested by a lot of you I hope you all enjoy.  
As a side note, not meaning to brag but I now have an autograph from Guy Henry (show of hands if you do too :D), thanks to a mate of mine, thank you so much to Guy for finding the time to sign it, I'm a very happy bunny now ^.^!  
On that note enjoy the show.

* * *

She paced casually before his desk, "Mrs O'Connor will be in for her cholecystectomy at 2.30, I'll be taking charge of that, I'd also like Ms Burrows to assist with that, it'd be good experience; also Mr Thomas William-White will be joining us on Keller, I'm thinking of pairing him with Mr Mayfield, I've heard he's good and I think they'd make a brilliant team-"  
"Tabitha." Henrik held his hand up, "What is your job title again?"  
Tabby scrunched her face, "Doctor?"  
"Oh, good, I thought we'd re-wound the clock back 2 years and your medical career development was all just a dream." He toyed.  
Tabby rolled her eyes.  
"You're a doctor now, yes the paper bit's important but not as much as the practice, go and treat your patients." He smiled.  
She huffed realising her mistake, "Yes, sorry Mr Hanssen." She bowed her head and left the office leaving Henrik to chuckle at her antics.

"Ms Burrows, it's a pleasure to meet you." She held out her hand.  
"Hi, you must be Miss Rees." She shook the hand enthusiastically.  
"I am, and whatever you've heard about me, knowing my luck, it's probably all true." They giggled, "Right, a laparoscopic cholecystectomy, ever done one?" Tabby asked getting down to business.  
Jasmine shook her head.  
"Then you better get practicing." She motioned for the young doctor to follow her, "Mrs O'Connor, I'm Dr Rees, this is Dr Burrows, how are you feeling?" Tabby gave her caring customer service smile.  
"Please, call me Kathleen, and I'm in hospital so the answer to your question should be apparent." She finished with a wince.  
"A little bit of pain?" Tabby noticed.  
Kathleen nodded.  
"Dr Burrows, grab a dab of sanitiser, I'd just like you to palpate the abdomen and tell me what you feel." She instructed.  
Nervous to impress Jasmine took a breath and did as she was told.  
"OK, Kathleen, I'm just going to have a feel of your stomach." Jasmine partially opened the patient's robe and continued to examine.  
"Now you may be a doctor treating a patient but this is still a customer service role, like a waiter at Wetherspoons or on the checkout at Tesco, you are front of house providing a service to people you want to impress; they're called bed side manners and if you forget them just once your patient will lose all trust in you, they cost nothing but mean the world, you are delving into someone's very personal space and should really _ask_ before you make physical contact, not just state what you're going to do." Tabby gave her metaphorical wrist slap with a warning look.  
Jasmine pulled back and sighed, working with the CEO's girlfriend and she'd already fucked up, why didn't she ever have a good day? "Sorry, um, Mrs O'Connor, would it be ok if I just had feel of your stomach?" Her voice trembled slightly as she began to feel like an idiot.  
Tabby raised her chin with a smile, _'Shaky start but you learn from your mistakes.'_ She thought.

Tabby nodded along as she listened to Jasmine's feedback and gave her tips and tricks. Her smile glowed as she praised her F1 and thanked the patient, then picking up the notes they each took a squirt of sanitiser and headed towards the nurses' station.  
"Sorry about the start." Jasmine awkwardly apologised, she really wanted to make good impression on Miss Rees, what with her connections.  
Tabby shook her head, "It was a blip, you learn, you move on, and you improve. After that you stormed it, your medical knowledge is there it's just a case of honing in on the boring yet vital bits now; your paperwork, your work style such as good housekeeping and your manner around your colleagues, and your attitude with your patients; that's why you're here doing a rotation at a real hospital, you're gaining real experience for your real job in the real world." She reassured.  
"Hello."  
Tabby looked towards the voice behind the desk and stopped dead in her tracks.  
"Surprised?" He chuckled.  
"Cory!" She suddenly blurted out.  
"Tom." He emphasized, correcting her.  
"You're Thomas William-White?" She sounded astounded.  
"I am the man." He gave a wink, standing up to reach his hand across the desk for Tabby.  
They shook hands, "I thought…"  
"My father is Andrew Blake William-White, one of the top surgeons in Scandinavia, and my mother is Rachel William-White, she teaches nursing at Keele University. I've come here with Maja Johansson." He explained cheerfully.  
"Who?" Tabby scrunched her face in confusion.  
"Maja Johansson? She knows Mr Hanssen apparently." He shrugged.  
Suddenly it dawned on her, "Maja." She stated determinedly before heading to the office.

*Knock knock*  
"Come." Henrik called as he continued writing.  
The door opened and closed and the footsteps approached the desk, however even when they stopped, no words were spoken.  
Henrik decided that until this person had the guts to make a sound he wasn't going to raise an eye off his paperwork, that was until…  
"God dag, Henrik." _("Hello, Henrik")_  
That voice was unmistakeable, and oddly made Henrik shiver, however he kept his eyes glued to his desk.  
"Det var länge sedan vi sågs sist." _("Long time no see.")_ She prodded for a reaction.  
"God morgon." _("Good morning.")_ He finally replied.  
"Det är så trevligt att se dig igen." _(It's so nice to see you again.")_ Her voice was soft and full of hope.  
Suddenly Henrik halted his paperwork and looked up at his visitor, "Maja, what are you doing here?" He asked abruptly.  
She looked him straight in the eye, "I have a student who I've brought for work experience." She explained plainly in her thick Swedish accent.  
"Is that the only reason?" He continued to question.  
Maja tittered, "Am I not allowed to come say 'hello' to an old friend who just so happens to be in the same hospital?"  
"That's not what I'm asking." He shook his head and continued his paperwork.  
"Must you always doubt my intentions, Henrik?" Maja questioned, a little hurt.  
Henrik paused as he chose his next words carefully, "I don't believe you've met Tabitha yet, have you?"  
She tilted her head, "No, I don't believe I have." Her voice revealed her gradual understanding, "Is she a colleague or _friend_?" She scraped for more information.  
"You could say that." He offered.  
Maja nodded to herself, Tabitha was clearly more than 'just a friend', "I see. Then I shall leave you to your work, I have a student to attend to." Giving a half smile she headed for the door, giving Henrik one last glance before leaving.  
Henrik sighed, pulling off his glasses he pinched the bridge of his nose and gave a sigh, _'That woman has 'perfect' timing.'_ He thought to himself.

"You must be Mr Valentine, am I correct?" She greeted the CT doctor.  
Ollie's eyes rose from the files he was searching through to the outstretched hand waiting to be shook; he complied, "I am, and you are?"  
"Maja Johansson, I'm here from Sweden with a student of mine." She explained with a sweet smile.  
Ollie nodded in understanding, "I see." He replied simply returning to his search, "You don't happen to know Mr Hanssen by any chance, do you?" He asked absently.  
"Personally." She revealed, "By the way that is something I need to have a word with you about." She lowered her Scandinavian voice.

He strolled calmly onto the ward, however his eyes frantically scanned the room, finally they spotted what he was searching for. As he approached his ears perked up as her sweet voice grew louder, his heart began to beat faster and his breathing picked up its pace, and something else perked up as well. He kept his footsteps silent as he watched Jasmine perform the final moves for fitting a cannula into Kathleen.  
"Clean, smooth, and relatively painless?" She aimed the question to Kathleen.  
"Nothing more than a pin scratch." She smiled.  
Tabby and Jasmine mirrored each other's grin's.  
"Excellent work." He commented from behind them, causing Jasmine to jump a mile, "I believe Miss Rees is looking after you well, Dr Burrows?" He prodded for feedback.  
"Err, yeah, she's been really good." Jasmine agreed.  
"That's just what I like to hear, however would you mind if I borrowed your tutor for a while?" He glanced Tabby up and down as he spoke.  
"Yeah, that's cool." She nodded.  
"Then I shall have Mr Levy take over your session. Tabitha if you'd like to follow me please." He turned and strode towards the exit; Tabby in tow.  
Once through the doors and off the ward Henrik grabbed Tabby's hand and briskly led her to the lift.  
Tabby narrowed her eyes as she felt his grip tighten and watched him desperately pressing the button for the lift.  
 _"Doors opening, lift going up."_  
With a sharp tug she was dragged inside and suddenly pressed roughly against the wall; passionate lips lay against hers and their tongues intertwined, one more slow and confused than the other.  
 _"Doors closing."  
_ In a panic Tabby's eyes darted around the cell, she determined they were all alone and eventually sunk into Henrik's lustful kissing.

"He said that?" Ollie asked in shock.  
Maja nodded regretfully, "I had heard great things about you but Henrik wasn't convinced."  
Ollie was too busy controlling his anger to pick up on the faint notes of deception, "If any of that gets out he could ruin my career, he's the big cheese at the end of it all, who's going to listen to some jumped up CT registrar who, apparently, can't tell a scalpel from his arse." He ranted, more to himself.

" _Doors opening, lift going up."_  
Henrik pulled away from Tabby like lightening as a porter stepped in with an empty wheelchair, he grabbed her hand once more and pulled her with him again. Around the corner and down the corridor, Tabby was in too much of a shocked daze to figure out where she was or where they were headed. Through a large oak style door and as it shut behind them she was reversed into the desk. Perching herself onto the edge she wrapped her legs around the amorous Swede, melting into his kisses again. She gave a tiny squeak as she felt his slender fingers wriggle under her thighs, gripping them strongly and, without effort, he lifted her off the desk and carried her across the room…

"Do you really think it's a good idea to go now?" Maja jogged slightly to keep up.  
"Do I look like I care about timing?" Ollie mimicked the Scandinavian's intonation, "He's going to learn that word gets round this place before you know it. I knew he could be a pain in the neck but I didn't think he'd be this much of a bastard." Ollie stated through gritted teeth as he stormed up the staircase.  
Maja panicked, "I understand, but maybe it was just banter?" She tried to save.  
Ollie suddenly halted and turned to face her, "Banter or not that's a disgusting way to talk about your staff." He snapped before spinning on his heel and continuing up the stairs.  
Maja took a deep breath and followed.

*Thud*  
Tabby's back hit the wall but she was too distracted by Henrik's tongue exploring her mouth, and his hands running up her hold-ups, pushing her pencil skirt over her hips. In a fluster, he began to undo his belt.  
Tabby giggled, "Henrik, what's up with you?" She tensed her legs around him to keep her from sliding down the wall.  
Once finally freeing his raging erection his other hand slipped it's way around and under the young girl's thigh, his fingers hooked under the gusset of her thong and pulled it aside, his index finger played between her folds, nice and moist. He gave a sigh, pausing his actions, his eyes finally met Tabby's, "Tabitha, I can't help myself, I love you so much." He whispered huskily, and with one thrust he entered her, emphasizing his statement.  
Tabby let out a gasp and hung her head back against the wall. Her eyes closed and she could feel every movement as he lewdly rolled his hips into hers against the wall of his office.

"Oliver, I really don't think it's worth making a fuss over." Maja strode desperately after the blue-eyed surgeon down the familiar corridor.  
On reaching the sleek, fine, wooden doors Ollie halted, looking the passageway over in thought, "I've had enough of his slimy ways; 'transparent' my arse." He sneered, and without a knock he placed his hand on the brass handle and roughly pushed it down, opening the door in one swift motion…

Tabby's hushed erotic moans, and Henrik's quiet grunts were all that filled the room.  
"Sorry for the disturbance." Ollie grimaced, regretting refusing to knock.  
Lost in each other's passion neither had noticed the door open; both however stopped dead and turned towards the voice. As the young doctor turned sharply and exited, leaving the office wide open, an opportunity for a certain Swede to witness the scene and make sense of Valentine's reaction; Henrik gently let Tabby onto her feet and quickly pulled up his trousers, fumbling to fasten them as he stumbled towards the door after him.  
He held onto the door and leaned out, "Is knocking now a dying art?" He called out angrily down the corridor. Suddenly his eyes met the blonde lady's gaze of disappointment.  
"Well, well, well, Henrik, I see Tabitha must be a _very_ special friend, however you needn't have put it quite so bluntly, äcklig." _("Disgusting.")_ She looked the dishevelled CEO over with a sour expression before following in Ollie's footsteps.


	16. Chapter 16

Henrik hung his head. Behind him Tabitha straightened herself up whilst she gazed concerned towards her lover, "Shit, Henrik, what do we do?"  
Suddenly he slammed the door shut and turned back into the office, placing a hand on his desk, he never raised his eyes from the floor, "We just have to hope they both keep shtum about this." He said simply, his voice quiet yet with a faint tremble.

"Wow, you look like a five year old who's seen mummy and daddy doing the dirty." Though Jac's smug face dropped as Ollie completely ignored her comment and stormed through to the staff room.  
"Ms Naylor, go easy on him, it's a scene that may have scarred him for life." Maja joked as she entered the ward following the stressed young doctor.  
Jac couldn't help but titter as she turned her eyes back to the computer screen.

Jasmine glared at the computer screen as she clicked, impatiently though she began to click faster and harder before giving a frustrated growl and shoving her face into her hands.  
"Something the matter?"  
Jasmine looked up at the 'care bear' who had appeared at her shoulder, "I'm trying to double check Mrs O'Connor's cholecystectomy booking but it keeps saying I'm an invalid user." She whined.  
Sacha read the error message on the screen: _Invalid User – This information is for approved staff only._ He scrunched his face, "Well you are an approved user." He shook his head.

"Phew." Maja chuckled awkwardly as she shut the door behind her, "What a thing to witness, hey?" She fanned herself with her hand, but her smile faded as her eyes lay on ollie, sat at the coffee table, resting his temples against his thumbs.  
"Tell me again what he said?" He tried hard to control his seething anger.  
"Oliver, I don't think you need to hear it again." She warned.  
He gritted his teeth, "He says that about a member of his surgical staff, then has the audacity to shag his missus in his office during work hours! I don't know what I'm more upset about." He ran his fingers through his hair.  
"How about we have a cup of coffee and clear our heads shall we?" Maja strode towards the kettle and flicked it on before preparing two mugs, and out of the corner of her eye she gazed at Ollie as she spooned out the granules, a faint feeling of guilt brewing in her stomach.

"So that was Maja I take it? And who is Maja, Henrik?" Tabby stood akimbo awaiting an explanation.  
Henrik swallowed, eyes still glued to the floor, until the ring of the phone saved him. Though as he reached out to answer it another hand beat him to the receiver and blocked him from picking it up.  
"Who is Maja?" She repeated her question with emphasis.  
Henrik gave a sigh, "I don't believe I have to answer that." He glared back at her.  
"What is she? Old colleague? Past lover? Ooh, how about internet mistress?" She listed scornfully.  
Henrik shot her a look, "Absolutely not." He barked.  
"Well she obviously means something to you." She stated, shrugging her shoulders.  
His voice deepened, "Not anymore."

"Come on, pick up." Sacha muttered as Jasmine waited expectantly beside him. He glanced towards her, "This is very odd." He commented.

"Interesting, so tell me, all this pent-up frustration and anger, are you sure you don't still harbour feelings for her?"  
"Not in the slightest." He answered immediately.  
She then leaned forward towards him and lowered her voice, "Also you were gagging for me earlier, especially during work hours, it was very odd. Do you still find her attractive? Attractive enough to turn you on?" She raised an eyebrow.  
Henrik narrowed his eyes, his voice deep and dangerous. "I won't dignify that question with an answer."  
With not another sound Tabby let go of the phone and started for the door.  
"Hanssen…" He answered the call, "…With Dr Burrows?..."  
Tabby paused for a moment to listen in, but her pager bleeped and checking the message she decided to leave anyway.

"…A complaint?" Sacha repeated down the phone, confused, "So you decided to revoke all access to important files which she needs to do her job?... Further investigation?... May I ask what the complaint was?..."

"…I'm afraid I cannot divulge that information over the phone however if you'd like to see me at half past we can discuss it then?"

"Half past, fine, I shall be at your office at half past, thank you, Mr Hanssen." Sacha placed down the phone with an exasperated sigh, "There's been a complaint made against you apparently, and until a further investigation has been held your access to certain files is restricted." He explained.  
"So what do I do now I can't find any patient information? I can't treat anybody if I don't have their history." She moaned.

"GS consult." She announced on arrival at the nurses station on Darwin.  
"Just over here." A nurse motioned for her to follow.  
A door suddenly swung open, "Miss Rees, may I have a word?"  
Tabby turned to the young male voice, "Afterwards, yes." She nodded before continuing down the ward.  
Ollie huffed then picked up a file on the nurses station and flicked through. Out of the corner of his eye he watched inconspicuously through the blinds as Tabby smiled and chatted and proceeded to examine the patient in the side room.  
Jac returned to the desk and looked Ollie over with furrowed brow, deciding to leave him to it she continued what she was doing.  
Finally Tabby spoke to the nurse then said her farewell to the patient before using some sanitiser and leaving the room; Ollie made his move.  
"Miss Rees-" He started.  
"How may I help, Mr Valentine?" She folded her arms as she strode down the corridor.  
Ollie kept his voice hushed, "Um, has Mr Hanssen said anything about me recently?"  
She looked up at him, intrigued, "Like what?"  
"I don't know, negative… things." He shrugged.  
She upturned her mouth and shook her head, "Nope, nothing negative at all, in fact the opposite." She stopped and turned to him once they were far enough away from the main ward, "He thinks you're a brilliant doctor, you've shown excellent improvement, you have a great working relationship with your colleagues, and your track record in theatre shows you have a great career ahead of you; there are a few things he thinks you need to work on but doesn't everybody?"  
"So he hasn't slagged me off at all then?"  
"Absolutely not." Her voice was full of surprise.  
She began to walk away leaving the young doctor pondering for a moment before she suddenly returned, "Oh, and about earlier… with the… thing, will you promise to…" She placed her finger to her lips.  
"Oh of course, but I can't promise the silence of a certain Ms Sweden." He grimaced apologetically.  
Tabby rolled her eyes, "Maja." She huffed.

"And where do you think you're off to?" Tabby joked as she wandered onto Keller, but her face fell as she spotted Sacha's serious look, "Has something happened?"  
Sacha sighed, "There's been a complaint made against Jasmine, she's been blocked out of the computer systems so it sounds serious." He explained.  
"A complaint? Made by who? What for?" Tabby shook her head.  
He stood akimbo, "We don't know, that's why I'm going to see Hanssen now."  
"You're not going alone." She turned towards the nurses station and called over, "Dr Burrows, may you join us, I think we all have something to say to Mr Hanssen." She spun on her heel and lead the way.  
Like the three Keller-teers they marched along the corridor, their mission: to learn what is going on and defend Jasmine Burrow's reputation; their destination: the office of Mr Henrik Hanssen, CEO. Tabby stopped dead in her tracks as she spotted the familiar man pacing in front of the office doors.  
"Dr William-White, to what do we owe the pleasure?" She feigned a smile.  
However just as he drew a breath the handle rattled and in swung the door, revealing the tall handsome man they were waiting to see.  
"Good, now that you're all here shall we proceed?" He retreated into his office, his usual gesture for them to enter, "Take a seat, there are extra chairs behind you." He motioned.  
Gingerly they all took a seat, lined in front of the large dark desk, not giving each other a single second of direct eye contact; Tabby rested her arms on the rests ready pounce if needed, Jasmine clasped her hands on her lap and twiddled her thumbs hunched into herself, Sacha placed his hand to his mouth in preparation for some deep conversation, and Thomas relaxed into his seat calm and collected. They each watched Hanssen intently as he too took his seat, manoeuvred a few objects back into place, then took a breath to speak.  
"Mr William-White has raised some concerns that Ms Burrows may be neglecting her duties as a doctor." He began simply.  
"Oh?" Tabby tilted her head in reply.

Jac's eyes followed the brightly manicured finger as it trailed along the desk; when it halted in front of her she moved her gaze up the slender, pale finger, to an equally pale hand, further up the arm covered by a fawn coloured, cotton sleeve, still travelling up until it met the view of a pair of smiling, glistening blue eyes. She dryly mirrored the expression in her view, "Can I help you?"  
Maja giggled, "You know your analogy earlier was spot on." She revealed.  
"Care to explain?" Naylor furrowed her brow.  
"Poor Mr Valentine had witnessed something horrific, a scene that will definitely haunt his memory for time to come." Maja's voice was dangerously playful.  
Jac huffed, "I'm sorry, I don't understand, if you don't mind I am busy." Her eyes returned to the paperwork in front of her.  
"Mr Hanssen and Dr Rees are much more than friends, aren't they?" Maja continued.  
"If you hadn't worked that out by now I would have presumed you were an idiot." Jac absently pointed out as she wrote some comments on a patient file.  
Maja chuckled, "Well, catching them in the middle of a very intimate moment of passion definitely proved it."  
Jac suddenly paused her writing, "You what?" She met the shining blue eyes again.  
Maja sniggered…

"But that's ridiculous!" Tabby blurted out.  
"Dr Rees, please keep it calm." Henrik warned.  
"She made simple mistake, she's an F1 for Christ sake, she's allowed an error here or there-" Tabby carried on.  
"She put a patient's life at risk by nearly administering the completely wrong medication, on top of that it was twice the recommended dosage." Thomas argued.  
"There's a reason we have a pharmacist, they deal with the medicinal chemicals while we deal with diagnosis and treatment of patients! She wouldn't have killed anybody because there would be a member of qualified staff to confirm things." As she glanced towards Henrik for help she caught his warning look which told her to calm down and take a breath.  
"All we're asking is, just this once, would you be willing to let things slide and withdraw your complaint? Dr Burrows is still learning, and she made a mistake, which I am positive she will learn from and continue to grow in experience. She's got a lot of potential to be a good doctor, please give her the opportunity." Sacha pleaded sweetly.  
As all eyes turned to the man in question Thomas sighed, "She could have killed a patient, I'm not willing to just let that go." He explained himself.  
Tabby's hands suddenly gripped the arm rests as she pushed herself violently out of her seat. However, behind her Jasmine too took to her feet and stood firmly. She took a shaky inhale, "You're right." She started.  
Tabby halted her preparation for a rant and spun her head around in surprise.

"You are joking, you caught them at it?" Jac's face was lit up in shock.  
"I know, right? In the office, during work hours. Is it me or is that against the rules?" Maja continued the gossip.  
"Well, he is the CEO so I suppose no one can really say much about it." Jac shrugged.  
"But imagine people's reaction if they ever found out." Maja giggled.  
Jac chuckled, mimicking Maja's, but suddenly her expression morphed, her lips firm, her eyes deadly serious. Maja's giggle faded as she picked up on the change of atmosphere.  
Jac's voice was dark and quiet, "You had better keep your mouth shut, or so help me, I will make sure it's not just Dr Rees' or Mr Hanssen's reputations and careers on the line."  
As Ms Naylor's threat hit home Maja retreated, backing away from the desk she strolled away from the ward, not breaking eye contact once with Naylor as she walked around the nurses station.

"I wasn't concentrating and I should have confirmed my actions with a more senior member of staff before proceeding with my administration of the drugs to my patient. Therefore, I apologise, and I will take whatever warnings or punishment you feel necessary, Mr Hanssen." Jasmine blew out to calm herself as she turned towards the main man behind the desk.  
Tabby shook her head.  
"Thank you, Dr Burrows, but no apology needed and no sanctions required. I feel I must agree with my colleagues on this occasion, you are an F1, you are therefore still in training, granted you perhaps should have sought further confirmation of your decisions, however a mistake is a mistake, I will trust you will learn from it and continue to improve." Henrik's eyes were soft as he gave Jasmine a very subtle smile to let her know she was off the hook.

"Valentine!" Naylor calls out to the young doctor as she finished talking to a patient.  
Ollie turned to the voice, "Ms Naylor?" He pricked his ears up ready for whatever the fiery consultant was going to throw at him.  
"Do you have a moment?"  
Her distracted expression told Ollie to relax as this was not a conversation aimed at him. He motioned for them to step into the office and he shut the door behind them.  
She crossed her arms, "Has Maja Johanssen been chatting to you about anything at all?"  
Ollie upturned his mouth, "Not a lot, why is that?"  
"I need to warn you to take whatever she says with a pinch of salt. If I'm right, and I usually am, then she seems to me to be a lying, conniving bitch set out to cause as much damage as she can to whoever crosses her path, if I were you I'd watch my back." She cautioned.  
Ollie narrowed his eyes, "Sorry?"  
Jac sighed, "She's spreading shit about Henrik and Tabby shagging in the office, if you hear anything just shrug it off, she's clearly got something in for the both of them."  
"That's true though, I was there." Ollie revealed, but realising his mistake he quickly covered his mouth.  
Jac's jaw hit the floor, "You are joking."  
Figuring the cat was out of the bag he decided to reveal all, "I was the one who walked in on them."  
"The way she put it was she heard noises and quietly poked her head through the door. So you _had_ caught mommy and daddy at "it", are you emotionally scarred for life now?" Jac poked.  
Ollie was too deep in thought to catch the jibe, "Would you excuse me?" He held up his finger before scooting out of the office.


	17. Chapter 17

Here's my bone to pick with the producers of Holby: Finally the sexy, sophisticated Henrik Hanssen is back on our screens (I legit threw a party with a fantastic glass of cabernet sauvignon and a pesto pasta as I sat down 8:00 on a Tuesday evening in front of my telly) CEO of the hospital, an important person in the hospital, springs into action when TSHTF, etc. etc. yet I can count on ONE hand the amount of times I have seen him since he came back, he used to be so integral to many story lines in the past, now he seems to be brought in when the writers suddenly go "Oh wait, maybe the CEO should be involved in this." so they bring him in for email or phone call then we never see him for another fortnight. It has stunted my writing in a way, not seeing him so often I forget what he's like or I get stuck for scenarios to put him in. To the writer's of Holby City: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE can we see more Henrik? Purely because he's awesome!

Rant over, enjoy! :)

* * *

Ollie was taken aback by the group quietly shuffling out of the office, followed by the main man himself; his lips morphed to a smirk as he finally figured out his next move.  
"Any further queries or concerns, please don't hesitate to come see me." Henrik commented as he closed the door behind him.  
"Actually Mr Hanssen I'd like a word, and I think it would be valuable for Miss Rees to stay put." Ollie's eyes were serious.  
"Oh?" Henrik questioned.  
After a slight pause Ollie sighed, "It's regarding Ms Johanssen." He revealed.  
"I see." Henrik returned to the door and reopened it, allowing Tabby and Ollie to enter, although as Thomas went to turn to leave he caught Henrik's suspicious look and decided to stay put.

"What do you have to tell me?" Henrik retook his seat.  
"Maja's been spreading gossip." Ollie blurted.  
"Shit." Tabby hissed loudly to herself.  
Henrik rolled his eyes and buried his mouth into his fingers.  
"As far as I'm concerned your misdemeanour earlier does not bother me and I'm certain the rest of the hospital wouldn't believe a word of it, the problem is she seems to be blurring the truth a little. Now Jac doesn't hold a very high opinion of most people however she seems to think Maja has something up her sleeve and I'm inclined to believe her." Ollie reeled.  
Henrik narrowed his eyes, "In what way?"  
"Ms Naylor is under the impression Ms Johanssen has it in for both you and Miss Rees."  
"That jealous little bitch." Tabby sneered.  
"Then she's not the only one at it." Henrik spoke quietly.

Outside, Thomas scrunched his face, "Bugger." He whispered to himself. He pulled his ear away from the fine wooden office door and stormed down the corridor.

"I cocked up Mr Levy and I'm so sorry, why didn't he just punish me?" Jasmine kicked herself as they returned to the ward.  
Sacha picked up Mrs O'Connor's notes, "What were you going to give her?"  
"Tylenol #3, 30mg." She stated.  
"But that's pre-op pain relief." He shrugged, but as moans and bleeps began to sound from bay 4 he managed to fit the pieces together, "I think Thomas has set you up." He slapped down the notes and rushed to Kathleen's bedside, Jasmine close on his heel.

Tabby was outraged, "What a c-"  
"Can't we just ask them to leave?" Ollie suggested.  
"They're here for the day unfortunately." Henrik sighed.  
"But…" Tabby clenched her fists.  
"Miss Rees what were your orders to Dr Burrows regarding Mrs O'Connor's treatment?" Henrik probed.  
"I asked for pre-op preps, meds, and checks."  
"What would Dr Burrows have given Mrs O'Connor?"  
"Cefazolin, Tylenol, Bupivacaine, I don't know, she's done pre-op preps before there's only a set amount of drugs she would even think to use, she ain't dull."  
Henrik sat in thought for a while; after a long pause Henrik finally spoke, "Thank you very much you may get back to your posts, you've both been very helpful." Henrik dismissed as he went to stand.  
"Hold the phone, is that it, Henrik?" Tabby stood her ground.  
"It is, now if you may leave I have some serious business to attend to." Henrik motioned for the two doctors to vacate the office.

" _You'll be working with a Dr Tabitha Rees, she's canny, see if you can't find something to put her in her place; there's rumour she's tutoring today."_

Tabby entered the ward and absently strode towards bay 4, it wasn't until she was standing in the empty space that she realised there was a problem, "Erm, Caitlin, where is Mrs O'Connor?" Tabby asked the nurse wheeling a trolley to the next bay.  
"There was a complication, she's been taken into theatre." She explained.  
Tabby's heart skipped a beat, "With who?"  
"Mr Levy and Dr Burrows."  
Tabby breathed in relief, "And what of Mr William-White?"  
"I haven't seen him for a while, sorry."  
"The little sh-"

"Shift it a little more to the left… that's it, now snip." Sacha guided Jasmine.  
Jasmine concentrated hard, not wanting to make another 'mistake' today; as she made the cut successfully she gazed up to her stand-in mentor and could see his eyes smiling, she'd done well.

" _What do I need to do?"  
"Anything to make the CEO doubt her abilities will be suitable."  
"'Tabitha', that name rings a bell."  
"Don't worry yourself with the details, just keep under the radar, any problems come find me."_

"Ah, Tabitha, glad I caught you-"  
Tabby spun on her heel and immediately stormed directly towards her caller, "Don't you ' _Tabitha_ ' me, it's _Miss Rees_ to you, and if you EVER think I'm going to treat you with an ounce of respect now that I've figured out your game then you've got another thing coming, sonny boy!" She snarled, her face inches away from his.  
"And what game is that?" He asked coolly, his ego ballooning.  
"I'm on form today and I'm not going to let a conniving little, rich kid get in my way."  
He raised an eyebrow, "Is that so?"  
"It is so." She barked. She took a step back, "Do you have any idea what you're playing?" She shook her head.  
He furrowed his brow, "I don't get what you mean."  
Her face softened slightly, "This isn't your idea, you're just one of Maja's pawns, what's her plan?"  
Thomas scrunched his face, "Her plan?"

" _Um, what's this for anyway?"  
"Let's just say I'm protecting an old friend."_

"Protecting an old friend." Thomas muttered under his breath to himself.  
Tabby suddenly snorted, "Call it what you bloody well like, she's jealous and is trying to split me and Henrik up."  
It finally dawned, "I don't mean to pry but things seemed a bit frosty between you two earlier, is everything ok?" He began to get off his 20 hand horse.  
Tabby sighed, "Let's just say, the plan is working."  
And as she turned and carried on down the corridor Thomas decided to follow.

"I shall be on Keller for a while now so if you could send her my way when you see her, thank you." Henrik placed down the phone before hanging his head in his hands for a moment.

"So things haven't been smooth running for a while then." Thomas' expression was of soft concern, as they both sat on the bench outside theatre.  
"He's adorable at home, we cuddle and kiss and the rest of it but the moment we leave the front door… I don't know it's like he's embarrassed to show any affection to me in public, he won't hold my hand, he won't give a little peck on the cheek, he refuses to even touch me, and if I attempt to do any of those things to him he runs a mile." She held back a tear.  
Thomas nodded sympathetically.  
"Sometimes… I just… I think… I just feel a little unloved. I want to show him off, I want to prove to people he's my man, and I would have thought he would want to do the same, like he would be proud to have me on his arm, apparently not." She sighed.  
Just as Thomas took a breath to speak the theatre door swung open.  
Tabby got to her feet.  
Sacha met her with a smile, "Smooth, no problems, we'll get her back on the ward and in recovery."  
"That's brilliant." Tabby gave a thumbs up.  
Thomas sheepishly began to step away, "I'll be with you in a bit, I've just got to sort something out." He retreated down the corridor.  
Sacha pointed in his direction, "You know that guy set up Jasmine."  
Tabby nodded, "I know, he's just Johanssen's puppet though."  
Sacha rolled his eyes and gazed towards the ceiling, "I had a funny feeling." He agreed.

Thomas entered the ward and immediately spotted the man he was looking for, "Ah Mr Hanssen-"  
"Mr William-White, I'd like a chat with your mentor, is she around?" Henrik continued striding through the ward.  
Thomas tried to keep up, "Um, well, that's something I'd like to talk to you about."  
Hanssen halted and spun to face the young man, a look of thunder on his face, "Shall we take this somewhere quiet?" His voice low and dangerous, he motioned for them to step into the office.  
As he closed the door behind he was unusually quick to speak, "What is Maja up to?"  
"I don't know, I admit it, I've been playing her games for her, she asked me to find something to get Tab- _Miss Rees_ into trouble, but I don't know why. And if it's any consolation I like Miss Rees so I didn't want to do it but Ms Johanssen's persuasive, you know?" Thomas defended.  
"I don't care, you could have put 2 impeccable doctors in big trouble with your allegations today." Henrik snapped.  
 _"That jealous little bitch!"_ _Tabby sneered._  
Henrik narrowed his eyes, "Do you have any idea where she is?"  
He shrugged, "Sorry, not a clue."

*Knock knock*

"Come in." Henrik called.  
As the door opened Thomas appeared to almost cower.  
"I was told you wanted to see me, Henrik?" The unmistakable accent echoed ominously around the office.  
Hanssen waited for the door to close before pouncing, "What the hell do you think you're playing at?" He hissed suddenly.  
She smirked, "I was wondering where that passion had gone, and it's me that's now brought it back."  
"I want you out of my hospital, right now." He barked.  
"Are you saying you want to give up on me and your family for good?" She tested.  
"Tabitha and I are very much in love, and I'm happy to be with her. I have moved on, Maja, perhaps it's time for you to do the same." He finished on a more sympathetic note.  
She shook her head, "I have never seen anybody willing to dump their loved ones so easily, Henrik."  
"Please, Maja, just leave, you know precisely why I won't go back."  
After a pause Maja sighed, "Fine, take care then, maybe one day you'll see sense, but then it might be too late." She gave him a solemn smile before reaching for the door, "Come on then Thomas, let's take our leave."  
As they headed out of the door Thomas stopped for a moment, "So you _love_ Tabitha do you?" He kept his voice hushed.  
"I do." Henrik admitted.  
"Then perhaps you want to show her a bit more, no one's going to judge you for showing affection to your girlfriend in public."  
He furrowed his brow, "Excuse me?"  
"Tabitha spoke to me earlier about it, she's feeling a bit put out, that's all." Feeling Henrik's annoyance at his suggestion, he decided to leave it there and head out.

Tabby strolled back onto Keller, "Dom, have you seen Thomas, or Henrik?"  
He shook his head, "No."  
As Tabby turned away he remembered, "Um, actually yes, I saw them with that retired Swedish supermodel, they left not long ago. Sorry I can't be of more help." He shrugged.  
"That's ok, I'll find them later. Thanks anyway." She waved and decided to head up to Darwin.  
Thankfully, at least one person she wanted was around to talk to, "Jac." She greeted.  
"Hello, I thought you had a change of career?" She returned the smile.  
Tabby halted in front of the nurses station where Jac was sat, "Sorry?"  
"Something about, pornstar, office callgirl…? Oh yeah, sugar baby." The red-head expanded with a grin.  
Tabby froze, "Come again?" Her voice trembled.  
"Then again that blonde seemed full of shit to me so, who knows?" She shrugged.  
Tabby finally breathed, "Yeah, who knows, huh?" She giggled nervously.  
As she began to calm herself down she suddenly jumped at the hand that landed on the small of her back. Before she had the chance to turn and find out who's hand it was she felt a pair of soft, tender lips graze the top of her forehead. Finally, came that unmistakable voice that could elicit a whole range of emotions from her, this time it was a mix of surprise and contentment, as the whispered words, "I'm sorry." Drifted from his mouth and into her ear.  
The hairs on her skin all stood to attention as his hot breath caressed her ear, and his fingers gently brushed a strand of hair from her face.  
Feeling all eyes on her she almost melted from his public show of affection, yet she couldn't bring herself to return any of it at that moment.  
At least, Jac broke the silence, "I bloody well hope you've told you know who to go you know where."  
"Do not panic, I have shown them the door." He assured.  
Poor Tabby however could do nothing but panic, she kept silent and just stared into space as she felt Henrik's hand slide lower and lower before eventually stopping, his fingers subtly cupping her arse cheek.

Whilst Jac and Henrik continued their conversation, and Tabby continued spacing out in euphoria, one young doctor stepped out from the side room, for the moment concentrating on her tablet, but as she began to head towards the nurses station her eyes lifted from the computer to the unexpected scene right in front of her. She stopped and tried to make sense of it, unfortunately it didn't make any, so when Ollie came to her side and questioned her stunned silence, she had no explanation.  
"You ok?" Ollie asked. When she didn't reply, he became concerned, "Zosh?"  
Finally she spoke, "Mr Hanssen is grabbing Dr Rees' bottom."  
Ollie glanced to check he heard correctly and on realising he had, flashbacks of earlier filled his head, he quickly shut his eyes and looked away, "Is that a problem?" He grimaced.  
"It just took me by surprise that's all." She explained.  
"Zosia, perhaps you shouldn't stare." He suggested when he realised she still hadn't taken her eyes off them.

"Right, you ready for home then?" Henrik gave a bright smile to the young girl next to him.  
"Yep." She chirped and immediately turned to leave.  
"See you in the morning." He nodded to Jac, and then to Zosia and Ollie as he followed behind Tabitha.  
Jac eyed the awkward couple in the corner, before glancing back to the corridor, she shook her head, puzzled, then got stuck back into her paperwork.

"So, what happened with Maja then?" Tabby probed as she waited for Henrik to unlock the car.  
"Hopefully she will be a thing of the past." He reassured with caring smile, as he clicked the button on the key.  
Tabby nodded to herself then returned the smile, "Good. How about take away tonight?" She suggested.  
"I think that sounds wonderful." He gave her a cheeky grin before they both opened their doors and climbed into the car.


	18. Chapter 18 - NSFW

Thank you so much for all your continued support, you all leave such lovely reviews and kind comments and really good suggestions, you've been asking for smut for a while now so since it was in the pipeline anyway I thought I would oblige. Please enjoy ;P

* * *

Tabby sipped the Merlot she just poured, as the smooth fruity liquid caressed her tongue a smirk began to line her lips, a cheeky glint in her eye. Her gaze turned to the clock on the kitchen wall _'2 more minutes'_ She thought as her stomach tightened and her heart pounded for a beat or two.

" _Hello Mr Hanssen, I'm afraid I don't understand the homework you set for us… No I haven't done any of it yet… A tutoring session, tonight?… Yes that's fine, thank you, Sir… See you later."_

Little to Henrik's knowledge Tabby had been on a spending spree, wanting to add to their role-play repertoire she decided on the perfect costume, a little fantasy she'd had for a while…

She was woken from her daydream as she heard the clunk of the front door.  
"I'm home." Came the familiar call from in the hallway.  
Tabby took one last swig from her glass and delicately placed it on the counter. One foot in front of the other she took slow and controlled steps towards the hallway where she found her "tutor" placing down his briefcase and hanging up his coat. She tugged down on the skimpy red and black tartan skirt and brushed down the torso of her tight cleavage-revealing white shirt, stroking her loose school tie in to place.

Finally he turned towards her, his eyes scanning over her body and her tiny, sexy school uniform.  
Her heart skipped a beat, "Mr Hanssen, so glad you could come over and help me." She started.  
Henrik's eyes met hers and he paused for a moment, "Um, I don't think those shoes comply with uniform regulations, do you?" He held her gaze as he referred to her glossy nude high heels on her feet.  
"But, Sir, I've always worn these." She smiled innocently until she dropped a pen on the floor. Since the pen had rolled behind her (just as planned) she turned away from Henrik to look for it and spotting where it had stopped she hinged from the hip to bend down to pick it up.

Henrik knew what she was playing at, and he moved his vision down her body to witness her skirt rising up and revealing her black lacey thong, her silky white suspenders, and the lacey tops of her sheer white stockings; she knew exactly what got him going.  
As Tabby slowly stood she was expecting to turn around and find Henrik still stood in the doorway, looking her up and down, but of course she should have known better and instead found her back pressed up against a body, warm breath in her ear.  
Henrik stood over her, however he clasped his hands behind his back, and leaned down to her ear, "And your choice of underwear is definitely inappropriate for school." His voice was husky.

Tabby spun to face him, she took a hold of his tie and played with it slightly, "You really think so?" she flirted.

He eyed her up for a moment, examining her actions, "Right, stand over there, hold the banister and bend over." He suddenly commanded.  
Shocked at how quickly he got into it she did as she was told; she grasped the vertical railings of the banister and lowered her body, arching her back, her legs straight.

Tabby closed her eyes, she perked her ears up in the silent hallway and listened to the footsteps of Henrik's highly polished brogues, attempting to figure out his movements. They stopped just behind her. She trembled in anticipation, he was so good at getting her wet just by making her wait for his next move. Finally she felt her skirt lifted up and rested on the small of her back. The cool air licked at her exposed skin.  
Henrik just watched for a moment, her hands tensed on the banister, her legs started to shake slightly, he couldn't help but smile.  
*Smack*  
Tabby suddenly moaned out loud when she felt the action she'd been waiting for, her skin gently stinging.

*Smack*  
She rolled her head back as his hand made contact with the other side.  
Henrik took a slow breath in, he loved seeing her flinch with each spank, he adored hearing her lusterous moans of enjoyment at every sharp contact.  
"Now I believe uniform regulations state that your shoes must be black and must NOT have a heel over 3inches, I would say yours are at least double that."  
*Smack*  
Tabby shivered at his authoritarian voice, his point emphasized by a punishing spank.  
"You should be wearing cotton briefs, not a skimpy, little thong." He hooked a finger under the back of the tiny, lacey garment and ran it down, pulling the fabric from between her cheeks before letting it spring loosely back into place, then punctuated his point with another *Smack*.  
"They should be white or black knee length socks, not lacey stockings and silky suspenders." Starting from her hip he ran his hand down the outside of her leg, feeling the smooth, glossy nylon, down to her knee, his hand changed direction and began to stroke back up the inside of her thigh, brushing his fingers over her now soaked underwear. He smirked noticing the damp patch.  
*Smack*

Tabby let out a long, loud moan and began to pant.

Henrik paused, "Are you enjoying this, Miss Rees?" His voice stern.  
"Yes, sir." She sighed out as she tried to regain her breath.

"I thought as much." He placed his fingers between her legs and rubbed her wet patch again, he then removed his hand and gave her another sharp smack on her arse.  
She yelped and enjoyed the stinging sensation, "Mmm, I'm so wet, sir, touch me again." She moaned.  
*Smack*  
"Excuse me?"  
She gasped for moment.  
"I'm waiting." He demanded.  
"Please, sir, touch me again." She pleaded.  
"You mean like this?" He rubbed over her soaking wet gusset again, making his point.  
Tabby rolled her head back and pushed back into his hand, "Mmm, fuck yes, just like that, sir."  
"My my, Tabitha, I think you're enjoying this a little too much, aren't you?"  
Tabby shivered, his voice was stern, deep, and so so sexy.  
Henrik witnessed his girlfriend's body motions as she rolled into his touch in sync with just the movements of his fingers, she was melting right in front of him and that made him harder than a rock.

He moved himself directly behind her and wrapped his arm around her waist, his hand stroked down her belly and under the front of her thong, and his fingers immediatly found her clit and began circling around it.  
"Fuck, Henrik." She suddenly moaned without thinking.  
Henrik harshly thrust his crotch against her backside, "That's _Mr Hanssen_ to you." He warned.  
She pushed back into Henrik's crotch and felt his long, stiff, cock pressing into her.  
He leaned over her and whispered into her ear, his voice dark and husky, "You're a very bad girl aren't you, Tabitha?" He felt her shudder. He reached his arm further around her and started rubbing her dripping wet entrance, "No homework..." He slipped a finger inside causing her to gasp, "Improper uniform..." He worked it in and out a few times, Tabby breathing deeply in sync, "Addressing a member of staff so casually..." He paused his finger work, moved his mouth closer to Tabby's ear and whispered, "And this extremely innapropriate display of a student in front of her teacher." He thrust a second finger deep inside her. She gasped sharply, flinching her body upwards, only to find herself trapped by Henrik's tall, slim, yet strong figure.

He slipped his fingers in and out, Tabby's body again rolling with the motion, breathing deeply. He pushed his crotch further into her, signalling to her without trying to break character, how much he needed to move this scene along.  
Tabby turned her head and panted, "Mr Hanssen, fuck me." She requested.

Like lightening he pulled himself away and grabbed her by the hips, he tugged her from the staircase and spun her round. Her back crashed into the wall on the opposite side of the hallway, her eyes darted around in slight panic, she was enjoying Henrik's touch and had now been violently ripped out of her moment of lust.  
Two hands thudded against the wall on either side of her, her eyes landed on the suited torso in front of her, trailing her gaze up the plain purple tie and light blue shirt, up the slender neck and handsome face, to meet with the steely eyes looking down over her.  
Her breath sped up, oh how he knew what she fantasized about, trapped against a wall by the sexiest man in her life, how he towers over her almost menacingly, his unyielding gaze boring into her, making her feel dominated; she was weak with excitment.

He leaned down to her face, "Would you care to repeat what you just said?"  
Tabby calmed herself as much as she could, staring deeply and determindly into his eyes she re-iterated, "Fuck. Me." She demanded.  
Henrik slowly pulled away, not once breaking his eye contact with her whilst he unbuckled his belt and trousers and freed his vertical cock, "How about we tackle that homework first?"  
Tabby got to her knees and immediately engulfed his cock in her mouth.  
Feeling the wet warmth envelope him, Henrik pressed his hands against the wall again to steady himself as he lost it to Tabitha's skilled tongue. He let out a small grunt as she worked her magic before deciding he needed to move on before he finished too soon.

"Get up, hands against the wall." He ordered.  
Doing as she was told, her pussy wouldn't stop dripping in anticipation of what was to come.  
Henrik pulled off his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves, he then reached under her skirt to find a surprise, "You're a naughty little girl, aren't you? That was sneaky." He referred to the undergarment which was now wrapped around her ankles.  
Tabby giggled then gasped as he slipped his fingers back into her. She panted hard as he thrust his fingers inside her. Then without a single delay he swapped his fingers for something bigger and longer which sent Tabby into loud writhing moan.  
"Yes, Mr Hanssen, fuck!" She shouted out.  
He thrust himself deep inside her, "You're an insolent little girl thinking you could get away with what you have done tonight." His hips began to rock in and out of her.  
"Yes, Mr Hanssen." She moaned, gripping the wall.  
"You deliberately wore that slutty little uniform didn't you?" He continued thrusting but when he got no reply he swiped his hand sharply against her arse cheek causing her to yelp, "Didn't you?" He repeated firmly.  
"Yes, Mr Hanssen."  
"I think you understand the homework perfectly, don't you?" Again when the reply was late he spanked the other cheek.  
"Ow, yes, Mr Hanssen."  
He reached around her started rubbing her clit, he lowered his voice, "And you knew exactly what you were doing bending down in front of me like that. Don't think I haven't noticed your flirty glances in class, you've wanted this for a while, haven't you?"  
Tabby looked back at him, "Well I think you're really enjoying _fucking_ me, Mr Hanssen." She managed between moans.  
He raised an eyebrow, "Is that so?" He rammed himself deep into her with some short violent thrusts.  
Tabby's vision began to blur, and each time his hips thundered into hers it knocked the air from her inabling her to make a sound.  
He pulled out and spun her round, picking her up and pressing her against the wall. She wrapped her legs around him and felt his cock slip back into her and he fucked her against the wall. Their lips met and their tongues intertwined.  
She hung her head back for a moment, enjoying the lewd sensation between her legs.  
"Are you enjoying, Miss Rees?" He panted out.  
"You're going to make me cum." She slurred out, rolling her head forward and burying her face into his shoulder.  
Henrik stroked a finger between her legs, "You are soaked, Tabitha." He whispered into her ear.  
"You make me so wet and horny." She replied in his.

Still inside her he carried her into the living room and placed her gently on the wooden coffee table, she spread her legs and he carried on rocking his hips. He glanced down and watched for a moment as his cock slipped in and out, her juices coating them both. He unbuttoned his shirt, leaving his tie on at Tabby's request, he then picked up his pace, they stared deep into each others eyes, Tabby clinging onto his tie, they watched each other's expressions of pleasure, when Henrik noticed her face contorting he knew she was climaxing.  
"Are you ready?" He huffed.  
She threw her head back, "Oh Henrik I'm going to cum!"  
He continued his motions as her moans became louder and louder, then just as he felt her tighten around him he pulled out, her juices squirting over his crotch.  
"Fuck me, Henrik, I need you." She begged.  
He obliged, re-entering and continuing with his previous pace. Her moans were louder than ever, his grunts were also increasing in volume. Before long he pulled himself out again, just in time, and shot his cum over her pussy, strained groans filled the room as he orgasmed.

She stroked a finger over herself, collecting some of his ejaculate, brought it to her mouth, and teasingly licked it off. Henrik watched as he attempted to regain his breath.  
"Henrik, that was amazing." She panted.  
He chuckled lightly, "Yes, I thought so." He retreated to the sofa, Tabitha cuddling up beside him, "You were very naughty calling me in work earlier."  
"Aww, was it distracting?" She teased.  
Without a word he leaned down and took her lips with his. Feeling something twitch Tabby figured he was ready for round two.


	19. Chapter 19 - Reunions

Is it just me, or are the production staff of Holby adding more members to the sexy over 50s club? ;)

* * *

..."I put the fork in for you." She pointed across him to his bag.  
"Ah, I see, thank you."

"Did you grab your flask?"  
"I did, what about your papers?"  
"Got those, thanks."  
The couple continued striding towards the entrance, hand in hand.

Once they reached their floor in the lift they gave each other a quick kiss on the lips and parted ways ready for work. He entered his office and carefully lay down his brief case before gliding around his desk and lowering himself into his chair; a content smile lined his lips as he gazed around the suave room.  
She turned to the mirror and straightened out her maroon scrubs, flicked her stethoscope around her neck, then gave her short locks a quick ruffle; she sighed with a small smile before spinning on her heel and heading out of the locker room.

On entering the ward she passed a tall, dark, and rather handsome fellow, who gave a swift a 'hello' but seemed to be on a mission. She however stuttered out a confused 'hi' and gave the chap a double glance.  
"Good Morning, Essie!" Tabby chirped before leaning on the desk, "Um, who's the new guy?" She lowered her voice, her question brimming with intrigue.  
"Morning, Tabby. Oh, him? That's-"  
"Essie, have you seen Mr. Dolan's x-rays, I was told they were sent up but I haven't seen them. Oh, morning, Tabs, good week off?" Dom asked, noticing her presence.  
"Yeah, good thanks, a week of doing sweet FA, there are many who think that's boring, however I thought it was bliss." Tabby grinned.  
"I'm afraid to say I'm on your side with that one, especially if there's a chilled bottle of Pinot involved." He replied, still searching the staff desk.  
"Oh, several." Tabby agreed, nodding vigorously.  
He giggled, "Have you met our new addition to the Keller clan?"  
Tabby guessed they were talking about the same person, "Briefly. Very briefly."  
He furrowed his brow, "How do you mean?"  
"Well I think he was busy, it was just a quick greeting in passing." She explained.  
"Hm, I'm surprised." He raised his eyebrows, pausing his search.  
"Why's that?"  
"I thought you'd have already been introduced to him." He shrugged.  
Tabby narrowed her eyes, "How?"  
"Well he is-"  
"Dominic, can you join us please? I'd like a second opinion." Sacha called over.  
"Look I'll tell you later. In the meantime, Mrs Graham needs her bag changed, and if you could do Ms Lewis' obs that would be amazing, thanks." He listed his requests and swiftly left.  
Tabby sighed before getting on with her tasks.

…"And all the while I was still in my pyjamas." Mrs Graham recalled, tears of laughter filling her eyes.  
Tabby laughed, "Elsa, that's hilarious, I can't believe that happened. Let me guess, he was really good looking too."  
"The best looking boy on the street, I was mortified."  
"Hahaha, that's guaranteed isn't it." Tabby was grinning at her patient's story.  
"I'll tell you who else is good looking, that doctor you work with, now he's dishy."  
"What, Mr Levy?" Tabby was taken aback.  
Elsa reeled, "No no no, the young one, dark hair."  
"I haven't met him properly yet, I've been away, he's new."  
"Mr Johansson I believe."

Tabby's eyes drifted to the ceiling in ponder, "Johansson." She repeated to herself. When nothing came to mind she shrugged, grabbed a squirt of sanitiser and gave Elsa a grin, "I'll be back to check on you later, can I get you anything in the meantime?"  
"No, thank you lovely, you're very busy and I'd like to do my crossword." She beamed as she picked up her magazine and straightened her glasses.

Tabby checked her watch and decided it was time for a quick caffeine fix.  
"Oh, hello, I'm not disturbing you am I?" She peered around the door to the tall, slim gentleman sat at the coffee table.  
"Not at all." He motioned for her to carry on.  
She accepted the invite and scuttled across the room to the counter, flicking on the kettle before rummaging through the cupboard for her mug.  
"Good day?"  
She glanced behind her to the unexpected question from the stranger, "So far not bad. Your's?" She replied casually as she scooped the granules in to her purple crockery.  
"Very good, thank you." He tilted his head to get a better view, "You like your coffee strong?" He noted the two full heaped teaspoons of rich Kenco showering into the mug.

"Bloody hell, I feel the need for it this morning, I don't know what's wrong with me." She chuckled.  
He looked her up and down, "Mr Hanssen not make you breakfast this morning?"  
She paused her lackluster stirring to side glance the nosey parker, "Excuse me?"  
He sat back in his seat and raised his hands, "I apologise for being forward, you know what gossip is like." He covered.  
Tabby thought for a moment, she gave short intake of breath then let go of her spoon, turning fully to the new face, "I don't believe we've met." She folded her arms.  
He placed his hand on his chest, "Fredrik Johansson, and you are Dr Tabitha Rees." He didn't remove his gaze from her.  
She gave an upturned smile and proceeded to retrieve the milk from the fridge, "You seem to know a lot about me already, these gossips sure work quickly, care to name your sources?" She smirked to herself as she unscrewed the lid.

"You're shagging my father."  
"Fuck!" She spun away from the counter to face him, "Johanssen!" It suddenly clicked.  
"There it is." He smirked spotting the lightbulb.  
"Your mum is..."  
"Maja Johanssen, yes." He confirmed.  
"Wow." She was still gob-smacked. Finally she turned back to her coffee making, "By the way, Henrik and I are actually going out, it isn't just some dodgy office fucking." She wanted to clear.  
"I know." He nodded, though his voice didn't convey belief.

Before the air could get get any more solidified the door burst open.  
"Mr Johanssen, and Dr Rees, Mrs Lewis has just relapsed, we're going into theatre, can you both scrub in please?" Sacha's tone was urgent and he spun and left before the two young doctors could give their answers.  
Tabby rolled her eyes and plonked down her mug before following an eager Fredrik out of the staff room.

"Today we are performing a laparoscopic Splenectomy on 72 year old Janet Lewis, 8/4/1945, patient number 27897." Sacha turned to look at the scrub nurse who nodded back in confirmation, "We're treating a Splenomegaly brought on by the patient's Rheumatoid Arthritis and confirmed by a blood test showing abnormally low red and white blood counts. We began treating with wide spectrum IV antibiotics and the patient showed signs of improvement but shortly deteriorated experiencing excruciating pain." He scanned the room of surgical staff who all nodded in understanding, "Performing surgery today we have Dr Tabitha Rees, Mr Fredrik Johanssen, Anaesthetist Mr Albert Penning, Scrub Nurse Dorothy Lee, Support Nurse Amy White, and I, Sacha Levy, will be leading today's procedure. Are we all clear?"  
"Yes." Everybody sounded as they readied themselves in their positions.  
"Mr Johanssen, how about you make the opening incisions?" Sacha suggested.  
"With pleasure." Fredrik stepped forward, "Scalpel." He held out his hand.

Once the incisions had been made Sacha inserted the tools before pausing, "Tabitha, what is the next step?"  
"We would need to dissect the splenocolic, splenorenal, gastrosplenic and splenophrenic ligaments, and also divide the splenic hilum from the spleen itself."  
Sacha motioned for her to step up to the plate, "Enjoy."  
As Tabby began her dissecting Sacha watched the screen behind him, "I always find this bit weirdly therapeutic. What do you think?"  
"I suppose it's not bad." She gave a confused glance to Fredrik who just shrugged in return.

Behind the two young surgeons a tall, sexy, suit appeared at the gallery window, a small smirk lining his face as he eyed his lover performing her delicate surgical task. Henrik's presence however did not go unnoticed by his son, who gave a deep breath and straightened his back, now eager to show off his moves.  
Sacha held up a finger to Tabby, "Now take care here, you don't want to go in hammer and tongs, you just want to gently cut the tissue around the splenic artery. That's it, take it slow, no need to rush." He admired the work from the screen.  
"Shit." She suddenly hissed.  
"Don't panic, you've just nicked it. Clips." He reached out for the trocar and inserted it, "Now just clip the top of the artery, we would be doing this later on anyway but before we make too much of a mess we'll seal it now."  
Tabby blew out to control her breathing.  
"You ok?" Sacha asked concerned.  
"We're good, just a little panic."  
"Ok, tell you what, give you a break, Fredrik, would you like to take over, we're now going to staple the splenic artery." Sacha instructed.  
Tabby handed over the tools and stepped out of the way, just catching Fredrik's condescending smirk in her peripheral vision.  
Henrik tilted his head with a puzzled look of concern as he watched Tabby keeping her head down. However her eyes glided upwards as she sensed his gaze from the gallery. Henrik gave her a reassuring nod and paused to make sure he got a smile in return before silently leaving.

"Another successful op under both of your belts, well done to both of you." Sacha congratulated as they all scrubbed out together.  
"It was a pleasure to perform." Fredrik grinned, talking up the consultant.  
Sacha smiled his genuine smile and reached for some paper towels, "I'm really glad to hear that, operations are much more satisfying the more you enjoy them, some people love the pressure and thrills a specialist, dangerous op can give, some thrive on panic if something goes wrong, and others enjoy to plod along at a leisurely pace with nice procedures like this one."  
"Exactly." Fredrik agreed.  
Sacha gave another big smile and patted the Swede on the back before leaving.  
Fredrik then turned to Tabby, who kept her head down washing her hands, "Good effort in there." He feigned a caring smile and strode out of the scrub room.  
Tabby's eyes hit the ceiling as she halted her hand washing, irked, when she heard the outer door swing shut she reached to grab some hand towels, "' _Good effort in there_.'" She mimicked childishly, drying her hands, "Well that apple didn't fall far, did it?" She commented to herself as she shoved her used towels in the yellow bin, giving a huff as she swiftly left.

*Knock knock*

"Come!"  
"Hello, Mr Hanssen." She greeted as she slinked through the door.  
"Ah, Tabitha, good effort in theatre earlier." He stated as he rearranged his papers.  
Tabitha rolled her eyes, _'Not far at all.'_ She thought to herself.  
"How can I help you?"  
She clutched the patient folder to her chest, "I'd like to discuss Mr Roland's condition and some possible next steps to aid his recovery."  
He furrowed his brow, "Who's his consultant?"

"Um..." She took a glance at the cover, "Mr Copeland." She answered.  
"Then how come you haven't brought this to him?"  
"AWOL." She replied simply, handing over the folder.  
Henrik raised an eyebrow and took the folder, "He came in with…?"  
"He's presenting symptoms of Gastro-Oesophageal Reflux Disease, there's no sign of hernia or gastroparesis so we've been treating with antacids, he's been prescribed PPI's in the past and we've even tried H2RA's to no avail. He's still in pain and regularly vomiting, I'd like to take a look at the condition of his oesophagus as it may add weight to get him more aggressive and successful treatment."  
He moved his eyes up from the page, "Such as?"  
"I think we should push for a Laproscopic Nissen Fundoplication." She nodded.  
Henrik looked taken aback, "Playing it safe, aren't we?" He smiled.  
"It is a tried and tested procedure with long lasting relief, perhaps we could put forward to him other procedures and see how he'd like to continue but I'd feel more confident going with an LNF." She bit her lip.  
Henrik paused for a moment, nodding his head in thought, "I agree, we should put it to the patient and see how he'd like to proceed. Would you like me to accompany you?" He handed back the folder.  
"It could piss Dom off something rotten." She warned with a grin.  
"Then he should be more willing to delegate his workload, come on." He rose from his chair and headed for the door, holding it open for Tabby to walk through first.

"Mr Roland, how are doing?" Tabby's voice was energetic but her sympathetic smile calmed her demeanour.  
He shrugged, "My throat is on fire, my chest aches, but otherwise not bad, which is probably why I haven't seen a proper doctor for 8 hours." He huffed.  
"Well my name is Dr Rees, and this is Mr Hanssen, hospital CEO, we'd like to review your case and put forward some treatment options if that's ok with you?"  
Mr Roland looked up at her in bewilderment, "I don't want pain relief, I want this cured, I _need_ this cured." He argued almost aggressively.  
"And that's what we're here to discuss." She reassured calmly.  
"Mr Copeland, your original consultant, is caught up with other work duties, therefore Miss Rees and I are going to take over your care." Henrik explained.  
Tabitha began to lay out some files on the table over the bed, "Now we've tried a range of antacids with no effect whatsoever, your GP prescribed you Proton-pump inhibitors in the past which had very little effect, and yesterday we started H2-receptor antagonists which you didn't react well to." She reviewed.  
"Bloody typical, bet they would have worked too." Mr Roland grunted.  
"I'd like to present to you a range of surgical options which could relieve, if not entirely abstain, your symptoms for years to come; if I may bring your attention to the folders I have set out here for you, each of these contain information from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence about a variety of procedures to treat your condition, I will leave these with you if you'd like to read them to help your decision, I or any of my colleagues will be available if you have any questions." Tabby smiled.  
"In the meantime we'd like to perform an endoscopy to evaluate the severity of the damage inflicted on your oesophagus, as this could affect your options for surgery." Henrik added.  
Mr Roland switched his gaze from one to the other in shock, "You two don't mess about, do you?"  
"Have you eaten for the 6 hours?" Tabby asked.  
"I'd be lucky to keep anything down for 2."  
"Larry, if you can grab a wheelchair and a couple of sick bowls, we'll be heading over to examination room 4, please?" Tabby instructed the nearby porter, who gave a nod and went to retrieve what he'd been asked to.

"This is a numbing spray it'll ease the discomfort, say 'ahh'." Tabby sprayed the back of Mr Roland's throat, "Now, any pain, major discomfort, or you need to vom, give me a signal and we'll pull out. I'll just let that anaesthetic kick in a bit. Any questions?" She started to ready her equipment, her lover watching her bedside skills from the other side.  
"What surgical procedure do you recommend?" He asked.  
Tabby's eyes hit the ceiling in ponder, "Umm, I'd rather let you read the blurb first before I give you my opinion, that way I won't sway your decision if you'd rather something else." She explained tactfully.  
"So what do I need to consider when reading them?" He voice began to break slightly.  
"When deciding your treatment plan we take into account your age, weight, gender, lifestyle, possible recovery time, for example, not being judgemental at all, you're an older male; considered by your stats to be overweight; you're a manager in medium to large company, I take it office-bound; your recovery time would be estimated to be longer than average, therefore I would suggest looking at procedures that are minimally invasive yet not experimental. May you open your mouth again?"  
As he did as he was told she pressed a tool to the back of his throat, "How does that feel?" She pulled it out.  
"There was pressure." He nodded.  
"Ok, that's all we need, I'm going to gently insert this tube down your throat, all I ask is can you swallow for me like you would a piece of food until I say stop?" Tabby lined up the endoscope and began the procedure.  
That's when the door suddenly swung open, "Um, I haven't authorised any treatment for Mr Roland, how come he's not on the ward?" An irked Dominic stood akimbo in the doorway.  
"We are on the ward." Tabby stated simply as she proceeded with her task.  
"Yeah, treating my patient." Dom argued.  
"Dr Rees was concerned with the health of your patient and you were no where to be found, I was the next port of call since Mr Levy is in theatre and therefore have taken over the care of Mr Roland. Maybe you should be dedicating your new found time to your other patients instead of arguing the toss in here, Mr Copeland." Henrik gave his warning stare.  
Dom backed down, "Fine." He shrugged, "Now I know lynching patients is the done thing in this hospital I'll make sure to never leave the ward, not even for breaks." He spun on his heel and let the door slam shut behind him.  
Tabby smirked, "Told you he'd be pissed." She nagged still concentrating on her work.

Henrik stood at the end of the bed, watching as Tabby spread out the files on the over-bed table and re-iterated for him to make an informed decision about his treatment. She gave him a friendly smile and turned to squirt some sanitiser on her hand and walk at Henrik's side.  
"Sooo, Frederik." She stated simply.  
"What about him?" Henrik almost huffed.  
"No, nothing, you just never told me you had a son." Tabby shrugged making like she didn't care.  
Henrik's eyes hit the ceiling, "It's complicated." He tested.  
Tabby feigned a gasp, "I bet it is, Henrik, forgetting to tell your nearly long-term girlfriend that you have offspring." She grinned sarcastically.  
"He stayed in Sweden." He tried to explain.  
Tabby stopped as they reached the top step of the flight down, "You don't have to explain, I get it, he's part of a past you don't want to remember very much, and that's fine if you don't want to discuss it, but you could have at least told me he was here. You had a whole week." She rolled her eyes and trotted down the steps.  
Henrik placed his hand on his hip and rolled his eyes, _'Here she goes again.'_ He thought to himself.

*Whisper, whisper, whisper*  
He could feel every pair of eyes that gazed upon him.  
"Hello." He nodded politely and smiled to a pair of nurses who were stood together.  
"Hi." They replied all coy, one hugging a clipboard to her chest.  
As he continued to walk along the corridor his eyes flicked around him, meeting with interested, or curious, or flirtatious, or, occasionally, polite ones. The more he noticed the stares the more he seemed to cave into himself, however he persevered to where he was headed, still giving away polite nods and 'hellos' as he went.


	20. Chapter 20

Tenfangirl, do not panic, I too thought that storyline awful, Frederik was an interesting character which I think they could have played around with a bit more and used him to help explore both his and Henrik's deeper characters, to have him suddenly come in out of nowhere and shoot the place down was weird, and I think lazy writing. Frederik should be in this fic for while I think (I haven't got that far yet XD)

Enjoy.

* * *

Tabby approached gingerly, seemingly waiting for acceptance of her appearance from the gentleman sat up in bed surrounded by folders; on seeing her stood away from his bedside, a friendly smile on her lips and a file clutched to her chest, he lowered his glasses in invitation for her to approach.  
"I haven't got a clue." He shook his head, indicating to the research he'd strewn out over himself.  
"About what exactly?" She asked stepping towards his bedside.  
"What procedure to go for, I mean who am I to choose my medical path, you're the experts aren't you? Why can't you choose?" He threw his hands up and let them flop back onto the bed.  
Tabby furrowed her brow in sympathy, "We can do any of these procedures in this hospital today, since it's your body it's therefore your decision, I can only advise, all I wanted was for you to have a better understanding of the procedures so you can make an informed decision." She explained.  
He shrugged, "But I don't know what to choose." He gazed, defeated, at the papers around him.  
"I can answer any questions you have, I can explain anything you want me to, you could even tell me to bugger off and get a second opinion; what would you like me to do?"

He removed his glasses and folded them, "I want you to decide, you know what you're more capable of doing, you understand my body better than I do, I think you can make a better decision than me." He stared up awaiting her reply.  
She thought for a moment, "Ok, given what we were talking about earlier, I'd like to keep it simple, nothing experimental, just tried and tested despite the recovery time."  
He narrowed his eyes, "Which is…?"  
"The Laproscopic Nissen Fundoplication. You might already understand that there is valve at the bottom of your gullet which allows food to pass down but stops stomach acid from coming up, in your case this valve is weak and not functioning correctly. This procedure involves making a few small incisions into your abdomen to insert laproscopic surgical tools, then we will wrap the top part of the stomach around the bottom of your gullet, where your weak valve is, and this should help to tighten and support the valve."  
"Simple as that?" Mr Roland side glanced her.  
"Simple as that." She smiled, "Afterwards you may experience some trouble swallowing, you might need to start taking smaller bites, chewing food for longer, eating slower, but it shouldn't be too long before you're back to normal."  
Mr Roland began to chuckle, "Tell you what, Doc, sign me up."  
Tabby's smile morphed to a grin, "Nurse Matthews, may you bring Mr Roland some consent forms." She turned back to her patient who was now wiping away some laughter tears, "I'll give Mr Hanssen a shout and we should be up and running." She left shaking her head and chuckling to herself.

He spotted the curly haired nurse clicking around on the computer at the staff desk. He took a breath and strode over.  
"Hello, I'm wondering if you could help me, I'm not quite sure where I'm going." He pulled out his staff ID card and allowed Lofty to look it over.  
Realisation grew on his face as he read the name, "Ah, yes, we've placed you in Wet Lab 1, I can show you if you like?" He handed back the card.  
The man held up his hand, "Thank you, but I'm terrible with directions, I'd like to find my own way if that's ok? I'll remember better then." He explained with a coy smile.  
"No problem." Lofty agreed with a hint of confusion.  
As the tall, suited fellow spun on his heel and headed down the corridor Lofty furrowed his brow before continuing with his task.

Tabby concentrated heavily, her tongue curled at the corner of her mouth, her strongly intent gaze on the human tissue in front of her. Suddenly she spotted movement in her peripheral and paused her actions, furrowing her brow but not looking away from her work.  
"I'm sorry, I didn't realise anyone was in here."  
Finally she turned to the new voice at the doorway, "Oh, no, it's ok. Did you need this room?"  
He shook his head, "I'm just here to set up, I can work around you or I can wait until you're finished? There's no rush."  
"No, no, go ahead." She motioned for him to carry on.  
He nodded and entered as inconspicuously as he could, "Thank you."

The gentleman began to set out some books on the worktop behind the young doctor.  
"Shit!" He heard Tabby hiss.  
He retreated from the desk and turned around, "My apologies, am I distracting you?"  
"No, you're fine, I'm just struggling a bit here." She leaned down and studied her mistake carefully.  
He leans over her shoulder, "Ah, a Nissen Fundoplication? May I suggest something?"  
"By all means." She sat up, her eyes still focused on the task.  
"If you perhaps go in from this angle, you might get better leverage on this piece, and the tissue should be stronger here." He pointed around the human stomach Tabby was practising on.  
Tabby places her suturing needle at the area the man pointed to, "Here?" She questioned.  
He gently took hold of her wrist and forearm and placed her where she should be, "Try more this way." He lets go, and watches as she continued, "That's it, nice and steady, now lever down on the right, that's it, perfect." he smiles.

Tabby finally turns to face him and smiles, their faces close, "Thank you very much."  
"You're very welcome." He mirrored her expression, not moving away.  
"So who might my stand-in tutor be?" She placed down her implements.  
"John, Gaskell, Proffessor." He held out his hand.  
Tabby pulled off her glove, "Tabitha, Rees, Doctor." She grinned shaking his hand.  
"I've heard a lot about you, the teenage prodigy in the hospital."  
Tabby giggled awkwardly, "I'm afraid I've heard nothing about you. You're new here?" She lowered herself from the high stool.  
"Starting today." He admitted following her movements around the room.  
She ripped off her plastic apron and opened the yellow bin, "Well you know how we celebrate first days here, it begins with P and ends in B and if this op goes as smoothly as your introduction just now, I'm buying!" She grinned.

He smirked, amused, "Excellent, it's a date." He winked.  
Her eyes hit the floor, "I'm sorry to say I'm a taken woman I'm afraid." She revealed regretfully.  
John then remembered, "Ah yes, you and Hanssen, how's that going?" He stood akimbo leaning on the central workstation.  
She raised her eyebrows, "Good ye, I'm surprised how much you know already."  
"Henrik and I are old college friends." He explained simply.  
Tabby narrowed her eyes, "I had a suspicion. Anyway, I'll get out of your hair."  
"It was a pleasure meeting you Miss Rees." He stood straight as she approached him.  
"Likewise, Mr Gaskell." Despite her earlier warning, her voice was slightly husky.  
"Oh, John, please."  
"Very well, John; Tabby or Tabitha is fine by me too." She grabs her tray and leaves.

Tabby nearly collided with a tall sharp suit as her mission came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the basement corridor.  
"I thought you rather liked me wearing tailored suits, but if you'd like me to accessorise with human organs all you need to do is ask."  
"Hello, Henrik." Tabby huffed.  
"How did it go?" He referred to the now successfully sutured stomach she held in her hands.  
"Good, I think we're ready to go. So are you just here to check up on me?"  
Henrik set his steely gaze on the basement wall, "No I was mainly here to greet our new arrival, who I believe you have already met?"  
Tabby was just about to reply when…  
"Henrik, it's so nice to see you again, how are you?" John leaned out of the doorway.  
"John." Henrik greeted with a smile and slinked past Tabby to see his old chum.  
She sighed and stared at the organ in the tray she was holding, "Mr Hanssen, I'm going to clean up and have a chat with Mr Roland." She informed.  
Henrik glanced from John to Tabby then back to John, "Very well, John I'd like to introduce you to our team if you're not too busy."  
"Certainly, I'd like that very much." John nodded and joined them up to the ward.

Henrik and John watched from the safety of the Keller staff desk as Tabby animatedly talked Mr Roland in detail through his procedure.  
"I'd like to scrub in and observe if I may?" John side glanced his slightly taller companion.  
"Oh?" Henrik didn't remove his gaze from his lover.  
John took a moment to formulate his explanation, "Let's just say the jungle drums haven't been quiet."  
"Very well then." Henrik agreed with a smirk of understanding. He perked up when Tabby turned to them and gave a nod as she and a nurse pulled up the safety rails and removed drips from the hangers, and unplugged tubes and wires from the wall and monitors.  
"Mr Hanssen."  
Just as Henrik went to follow the team out of the ward he halted and gave John a nod to leave without him before turning to the voice who'd interrupted him.  
"Frederik?" He almost rolled his eyes.  
"You're having Tabitha assist you on this procedure aren't you? I've heard wonderful things about her in surgery, I'd really like to see her in action properly." He looked hopeful.  
Henrik narrowed his eyes, "You got to work with her this morning didn't you?" He questioned.  
"I did, however I've also never witnessed a Fundoplication, all I'm asking is to observe, nothing more." Frederik requested, desperation lining his voice.  
Henrik thought for a moment, "Very well, but you are to observe **only**." He warned before tagging along behind the troupe into theatre.

Tabby stood opposite Henrik on the other side of the table as he ran through his pre-incision checks. She focused intently on his steely eyes, his authoritative voice, and his attention to detail as he made sure each member of his surgical team understood the procedure exactly. He then locked onto Tabby's gaze, making flinch slightly.  
"You're on the wrong side of the table aren't you, Miss Rees?"  
She blinked, "Sorry?"  
"As lead surgeon on this procedure shouldn't you be over here?" He raised an eyebrow.  
She stared for a moment before silently turning and walking around the table to stand next to Henrik; he leaned down to her ear, "I will be right beside you every step." He whispered, given her the courage she needed.  
Tabby took a deep breath, "Scalpal." She finally ordered and began to make the small incisions into the patients abdomen.

The two gentlemen were both keeping a keen eye on her actions, both nodding admiringly at her delicate work, her dexterity with her tools, and her concentration on the task at hand.  
"That seems a bit stuck doesn't it? Let's give it a shot." Henrik murmured, he stepped behind Tabitha, his arms approached from either side of her, he took a gentle hold of her hands and began to guide her motions, whispering in her ear. Her back was warm where his body shrouded her, she felt his breath on her ear every time he explained his actions, his cheek stroked against hers as he watched the screen ahead of them, his hands expertly moved her own as they operated in tandem on this tricky section.  
John watched with pure fascination at the couple's harmonious working practice; Frederik however narrowed his eyes, seemingly perturbed by their close working relationship, _'Can't they keep it in the bedroom?'_ He thought to himself.

Finally the stubborn tissue was released. Henrik's grip had loosened slightly but not entirely, he glanced down to his student as she gazed up to her mentor, both their eyes sparkling with surgical (and sexual) excitement. Tabby's heart was pounding, it was thrilling to lead such a surgery but to do it with Henrik was mind blowing. He gave her the nod to continue her work.

"That's an interesting technique." He commented, intrigued, as she reapplied the lesson from earlier, "Where did you learn that?" He enquired.  
"Oh you know, substitute teachers often carry fresh new ideas." She smirked, not taking her eye off her task, "2-0 Ethibond please."  
He raised his head knowingly, glancing across to his old college pal, who gave him a reassuring nod in reply.

"Very neat." John couldn't peel his eyes from the screen.  
Henrik eyed the professor, "Impressed?"  
"She sutures like a machine, Henrik, not a knot out of place, it's mesmerizing." John complimented.  
Tabby glanced up, just in time to witness baby Hanssen rolling his eyes, she sniggered to herself and began to pull out the trocars.  
As she began to close up Frederik stirred, "I need to be getting back to the ward, thank you very much for letting me observe, it's been a pleasure." He started to shuffle out quickly before daddy halted him.  
"Leaving so soon Frederik?"  
He gave his father a warning look, "I must get back to my patients." He explained determinedly.  
"Very well, thank you for your time, I hope you learned something." Henrik gave his warning farewell before deliberately turning away and focusing on Tabby's skilful suturing prowess, leaving his son to scrub out in a slight huff.

"I believe the drinks are you then Tabitha." John grinned as they each busied themselves at the trough.  
She grimaced, "Well, about that, when I said I was buying, I actually meant Henrik."  
Poor Henrik's eyes shot up from the tap, "I was never informed of this."  
"If I remember rightly wasn't dinner on me last time?" Her accusing expression morphed to a cheeky grin as they all began to chuckle.  
"Very well, Albi's it is then." Henrik agreed.

"She's an asset to the team, no wonder you pushed her through her Bachelor's." John continued to move his objects into place in his new work area.  
"She's come a long way from when I first met her." Henrik nodded.  
"When did you decide to date?" John asked curiously.  
Henrik's phone buzzed "If I remember rightly it was her birthday and we were at a conference in Malmo." He furrowed his brow as he saw the ID of his messenger.  
"Sounds romantic." John smiled.  
Henrik suddenly raised his eyebrows and gave an awkward cough.  
John couldn't contain his curiosity and took a peek over Henrik's shoulder to see a photo of the topic of their conversation posed in front of a mirror; dressed in nothing but Henrik's crisp white shirt, sat on the end of a double bed, her legs wide open with her hand pulling down the shirt to teasingly cover up, yet enough buttons undone at the top to reveal her cleavage; finished off with a flirty caption of: _Good choice of shirt for today, handsome ;)_ _xxx_. _  
_John smirked and glanced at the crisp white shirt adorning his friend, "What a stunner." He complimented innocently before continuing with his tasks.  
Henrik took a deep breath, "Yes." He agreed shortly placing his phone back into his suit pocket, a cheeky smile growing on his lips.

Henrik ordered the usual drinks, awaiting his plus one, when he heard a familiar giggle; he shifted his attention towards the door. They rounded the corner, one, a tall slim woman with silky, ginger tresses; the other appeared in a skimpy, figure-hugging black dress with contrast cream collar, her short brunette locks sexily tousled, her nude heels shaping her glossy legs; he couldn't take his eyes off her.  
As they approached the bar Henrik couldn't hold in his smile, the girls paused their conversation to greet their lord and lover *cough* master. As Tabby reached up and threw her arms around her tall, Swedish man, Jac awkwardly averted her gaze.  
"So, come on then, haven't you got the shots lined up yet, Henrik?" The fiery red-head asked cheekily.  
"Er, no, but I have ordered a bottle of red so if you would like to join us with that you are more than welcome." Henrik invited.  
"Thanks, but no thanks, I have the weekend off and Emma's with her daddy for the week so I will be hitting the hard stuff." She gave them a wave before finding her way to the other end of the bar.  
Henrik gave his sideways nod of acceptance as he poured him and Tabby a glass of the good stuff.  
Tabby took the glass eagerly with both hands, "I'd have said red wine was strong stuff, but each to their own." She shrugged, not taking her excited gaze off the ruby liquid as she lifted it to her lips and took an appreciative sip.

Henrik couldn't help himself but chuckle. His eyes stroked up and down her body, he bit his lip as he took in the outfit adorning his gorgeous lover. Finally he was busted, he was mid gaze on her slender legs when a soft hand interrupted his view, delicate fingers wrapped around his tie, and the slightly firm tug on it ordered his eyes to follow the arm up to the owner's flirtatious face.  
"I'm up here, handsome." She winked.  
"You look stunning." He explained himself pitifully.  
She pulled herself upwards by his tie and placed her lips, as close as she could, to his ear, "You should see me later." She whispered huskily then retreated, biting her lip and giving a coy giggle.  
Henrik gave her a warning expression before taking a sip of his wine, "You sent me a photo earlier." He stated, giving his famous 'tell-me-more' smile.  
"I did." She grinned, averting her gaze.  
"Very naughty." He whispered, "Is it the same shirt I'm currently wearing?" He raised an eyebrow.  
Tabby shivered, she was in for a spanking later, "I may have been a bit bored while you were in the shower." She explained shyly.  
"Bad girl." He husked, grinning.

"Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon." He picked up and eyed the bottle, catching the couple's attention, "May I join you." He held the bottle in question.  
Henrik motioned in invitation, "By all means."  
Once John had poured himself a glass the trio toasted.

From across the room a green eyed gaze watched from afar; he studied his father's hand resting on the young doctor's lower back, occasionally stroking over her arse; he dissected the interaction between the three medical professionals; then he settled his focus on his father's facial expressions, happy, joyful, and every time he looked down to his girlfriend his eyes seemed to sparkle. He felt his heart tear slightly, his dad had a new chapter to focus on so getting his approval was going to be tough, but he couldn't give up now, despite past events he missed him, he wanted to get to know him, and since splitting from his wife what did he have to lose?

' _He's my dad.'_


End file.
